34 Facts About Hannibal Hamlin

Hannibal Hamlin was an American attorney and politician who served as the 15th vice president of the United States from 1861 to 1865, during President Abraham Lincoln's first term.

An attorney by background, Hamlin began his political career as a Democrat in the Maine House of Representatives before being elected twice to the United States House of Representatives, and then to the United States Senate.

Hannibal Hamlin was born to Cyrus Hannibal Hamlin and his wife Anna in Paris.

Hannibal Hamlin was a descendant in the sixth generation of English colonist James Hamlin, who had settled in Barnstable, part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1639.

Hannibal Hamlin was a grandnephew of US Senator Samuel Livermore II of New Hampshire.

Hannibal Hamlin was gravely ill and Ockett prescribed that he be given warm cow's milk, after which he recovered.

Hannibal Hamlin attended the district schools and Hebron Academy and later managed his father's farm.

Hannibal Hamlin studied law with the firm headed by Samuel Fessenden, was admitted to the bar in 1833, and began practicing in Hampden, Maine, where he lived until 1848.

Hannibal Hamlin married Sarah Jane Emery of Paris Hill in 1833.

The next year, Hannibal Hamlin married Sarah's half-sister, Ellen Vesta Emery.

Hannibal Hamlin unsuccessfully ran for the United States House of Representatives in 1840 and left the State House in 1841.

Hannibal Hamlin later was elected to two terms in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1843 to 1847.

Hannibal Hamlin was elected by the state legislature to fill a US Senate vacancy in 1848, and to a full term in 1851.

Hannibal Hamlin was a conspicuous supporter of the Wilmot Proviso and spoke against the Compromise of 1850.

Hannibal Hamlin won the election by a large margin and was inaugurated on January 8,1857.

Hannibal Hamlin returned to the United States Senate, serving from 1857 to January 1861.

Hannibal Hamlin was nominated by the Republican Party to serve as Vice President of the United States in the 1860 presidential election on a ticket with former Representative Abraham Lincoln.

At the time, the vice president was part of the legislative branch in his role as president of the Senate and did not attend cabinet meetings; Hannibal Hamlin did not regularly visit the White House.

Hannibal Hamlin had little influence in the Lincoln administration, although he urged both the Emancipation Proclamation and the arming of Black Americans.

Hannibal Hamlin strongly supported Joseph Hooker's appointment as commander of the Army of the Potomac, which ended in failure at the Battle of Chancellorsville.

Hannibal Hamlin opted to serve, arguing that he could set an example by doing the duty expected of any citizen, and the only concession made because of his office was that he was quartered with the officers.

Hannibal Hamlin, by contrast, was an ally of the Northern "Radical Republicans".

Lincoln and Johnson were elected in November 1864, and Hannibal Hamlin's term expired on March 4,1865.

Not content with private life, Hannibal Hamlin returned to the US Senate in 1869 to serve two more terms before declining to run for reelection in 1880 because of an ailing heart.

Hannibal Hamlin received the appointment on June 30,1881, and held the post until October 17,1882.

Hannibal Hamlin was elected as a Third Class Companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

On July 4,1891, Hannibal Hamlin collapsed and fell unconscious while playing cards at the Tarratine Club he founded in downtown Bangor, and died there a few hours later, at the age of 81.

Hannibal Hamlin was buried in the Hamlin family plot at Mount Hope Cemetery in Bangor.

Hannibal Hamlin outlived six of his successors in the vice presidency, more than any other US vice president.

Hannibal Emery Hamlin was Maine Attorney General from 1905 to 1908.

Hannibal Hamlin's great-granddaughter Sally Hamlin was a child actor who made many spoken word recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company in the early 20th century.

Hannibal Hamlin wrote books about Andersonville Prison and the Battle of Chancellorsville.

Hannibal Hamlin later became president of Middlebury College in Vermont.

Hannibal Hamlin appears briefly in three alternate history writings by Harry Turtledove: The Guns of the South, Must and Shall, and How Few Remain.