1. Theodore Runyon was an American politician, diplomat, and American Civil War brigadier general in the New Jersey Militia, serving with the Union Army at the Battle of First Bull Run.
14 Facts About Theodore Runyon
1. 2.
Theodore Runyon was born in Somerville, New Jersey of Huguenot descent.
3.
Theodore Runyon was a direct descendant of Vincent Rongion, a Huguenot who was born in Poitiers, France and settled in New Jersey.
4.
Theodore Runyon graduated from Yale University, where he helped found Scroll and Key Society.
5.
Theodore Runyon was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1846 and began the practice of law in Newark, New Jersey.
6.
Theodore Runyon held his position as division commander as a State militia or short-term volunteer general, not as a formally commissioned Union Army general.
7.
On February 25,1862, Theodore Runyon was appointed a brevet major general in the New Jersey militia.
8.
Fort Runyon, named in Theodore Runyon's honor, was a timber and earthwork fort constructed by the Union Army following the occupation of northern Virginia in order to defend the southern approaches to the Long Bridge as part of the defenses of Washington, DC during that war.
9.
From 1864 to 1866, Theodore Runyon served as mayor of Newark as a Democrat.
10.
Theodore Runyon had previously been city attorney and city counsel.
11.
Theodore Runyon was appointed major general in charge of the New Jersey National Guard, and served in this post until 1873.
12.
Theodore Runyon was the first president of the Manufacturers' National Bank of Newark until he became chancellor of New Jersey, an office he held for 14 years.
13.
In 1893, Theodore Runyon became envoy and later ambassador to Germany, where he died in 1896.
14.
Theodore Runyon is buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Newark, New Jersey.