1. Reuben Eaton Fenton was an American merchant and politician from New York.
20 Facts About Reuben Fenton
1. 2.
Reuben Fenton was the son of a farmer, and schoolteacher, George Washington Fenton and Elsey Fenton.
3.
Reuben Fenton had four siblings: Roswell Owen Fenton, George Washington Fenton Jr.
4.
Reuben Fenton was educated in the district school, Cary's Academy near Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Fredonia Academy.
5.
Reuben Fenton became a lumber merchant, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1841.
6.
Reuben Fenton was Town Supervisor of Carroll from 1843 to 1850.
7.
Reuben Fenton was elected as a Democrat to the 33rd United States Congress, and served from March 4,1853, to March 3,1855.
8.
Reuben Fenton left the Democratic Party to help organize the Republican Party, and was later elected, as a Republican, to the 35th, 36th, 37th and 38th United States Congresses, and served from 1857 to 1865.
9.
Reuben Fenton served a total of five terms as congressman.
10.
Reuben Fenton was the Governor of New York from 1865 to 1868, elected in 1864 and 1866.
11.
In 1868, he was among the candidates to be Vice President but the nomination went eventually to Schuyler Colfax, whom Fenton had previously been allied with in discussing "growing public agitation about" General George B McClellan's inactivity with President Abraham Lincoln during the US Civil War.
12.
Roscoe Conkling gave a speech in which he produced proof that Reuben Fenton had stolen $12,000 as a young man rather than deliver it as a currier.
13.
Reuben Fenton, upon seeing the documents that had been produced by Conkling, slumped over his desk in defeat according to author Ron Chernow.
14.
In 1878, Reuben Fenton represented the United States at the International Monetary Conference in Paris.
15.
Reuben Fenton was known as "The Soldiers' Friend" for his efforts to help returning Civil War veterans.
16.
Reuben Fenton worked to remove tuition charges for public education, helped to establish six schools for training teachers, and signed the charter for Cornell University.
17.
In 1840, Fenton was married to Jane W Frew, the daughter of John Frew.
18.
Reuben Fenton got remarried on June 12,1844, to Elizabeth Scudder.
19.
Reuben Fenton died on August 25,1885, in Jamestown, and was buried in Lake View Cemetery.
20.
Reuben Fenton's family home was an Italian Villa style house built in 1863.