Charles G. Atherton

Charles Gordon Atherton (July 4, 1804 – November 15, 1853) was an American politician and lawyer from New Hampshire.[1] Elected to the United States House of Representatives from 1837 to 1843. Elected to the United States Senate from 1843 to 1849 and then again in 1853. He was a Democrat.

Charles Gordon Atherton
United States senator from New Hampshire
In office March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1849 March 4, 1853 – November 15, 1853
Preceded by	Leonard Wilcox John P. Hale
Succeeded by	Moses Norris, Jr. Jared W. Williams
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Hampshire's At-large district (Seat 1)
In office March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1843
Preceded by	Benning M. Bean
Succeeded by	Moses Norris, Jr.
Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
In office 1830
In office 1833–1835
Personal details
Born	(1804-07-04)July 4, 1804 Amherst, New Hampshire
Died	November 15, 1853(1853-11-15) (aged 49) Manchester, New Hampshire
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Ann Clark Atherton
Profession	Politician, Lawyer

Early life and education

Charles G. Atherton was born in Amherst, New Hampshire on July 4th, 1804, the son of Charles Humphrey Atherton and Mary Ann Toppan. [2]

His grandfather was Joshua Atherton, an early anti-slavery campaigner in Massachusetts. His middle name Gordon, was in memory of his parents and grandparents family friend William Gordon. His mother, Mary, died when he was thirteen years old. He had six other siblings, many did not reach adulthood.

Like all males in New Hampshire between the ages of 18 and 45, Atherton was a member of the state militia serving in the Lafayette Riflemen 5th Regiment as a Lieutenant in 1827 and as Captain in 1828.

Atherton received a classical education. He was tutored in the classics by the inventor Samuel Abbot, and went on to study law under the tutelage of his father, a former Federalist politician and one of the most distinguished attorneys in the state. He graduated from Harvard University in 1822 where he studied law. After graduation, He was admitted to the bar in 1825 and commenced practice in Dunstable, New Hampshire (now Nashua).

Career

Early career

Atherton was a States-rights Democrat from a northern state of New England. He engaged early on in politics and identified himself with the Democratic Party, which he remained loyal to all his life.

He and his father were opposed in politics: his father taking the same position as Abraham Lincoln that as a free country, no extension of slavery should be tolerated.

Atherton was elected at the age of 26, as a member of the State House of Representatives in 1830. He was Speaker of the House from 1833 to 1835.

U.S House

Atherton is best known for his staunch stance on states-rights issues.

He was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-fifth United States Congress and the two succeeding Congresses (March 4th, 1837 – March 3rd, 1843) and did not seek reelection in 1842, having become a candidate for Senator.

His circle of friends included Congressman Jonathan Cilley, who died in a duel in Bladensburg, Maryland in February 1838. Atherton wore a crape (a black band worn on his sleeve) for thirty days in his memory. Atherton was appointed to a committee by President Martin Van Buren to investigate the causes which led to his death. One of the committee's recommendations resulted in a law signed by President Van Buren on February 20, 1839 prohibiting the giving or accepting of challenges to duel within the District of Columbia.

Atherton Gag

He was responsible for composing the gag rule in 1838, known as the “Atherton Gag”, which stifled any petitions relating to bringing an end to slavery. A curious position for the grandson of Joshua Atherton who, so many years earlier had been ready to oppose the Ratification of the Federal Constitution because of its acknowledgment of slavery. From that moment he became known as Gag Law Atherton.

During his first term in Congress in 1838 he presented five resolutions which were adopted, and which created a new resolution that barred Congress from discussing petitions which mentioned bringing slavery to an end. He presented his five resolutions on December 11th, 1838. Congress approved them on December 12th, 1838. Several similar resolutions and eventually a standing House rule were approved by Congress from 1835 to 1840, but the "Atherton Gag" was the only one of them to be named after its creator.[3][4]

Of the five resolutions, the last one is most indicative of his desires since it contains the vital stipulations. Atherton wrote:

5. Resolved, therefore, That all attempts, on the part of Congress, to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia or the Territories, or to prohibit the removal of slaves from State to State, or to discriminate between the institutions of one portion of the country and another, with the views aforesaid, are in violation of the constitution, destructive of the fundamental principles on which the Union of these States rests, and beyond the jurisdiction of Congress; and that every petition, memorial, resolution, proposition, or paper, touching or relating in any way or to any extent whatever to slavery, as aforesaid, or the abolition thereof, shall, on the presentation thereof, without any further action thereon, be laid on the table without being debated, printed, or referred.

Atherton was responsible for composing the gag rule of December 1838, which stifled any petitions relating to slavery. The previous year abolitionists mainly from northern states sent thousands of petitions to Congress for the abolition of slavery.

John Greenleaf Whittier, poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States referred to him as vile and shifty and wrote poems making reference to both Atherton and the gag, which frustrated Whittier and all the other abolitionists, as it curtailed any open debate in Congress on the subject.

Atherton delivered a speech on the twelve million loan bill in the House of Representatives, on Monday, July 12, 1841.[5].

During the third session of the twenty-fifth United States Congress, Atherton lodged with a Mrs S.A. Hill in Alexandria, Virginia which was almost opposite to the Gadsby's Tavern, which housed ten representatives, all from pro-slavery states, who would have looked for any opportunity to lobby their cause. The gag rule was deeply controversial as it curtailed progressive debate and was extremely unpopular in northern states and frustrated the abolitionists cause; however it still won enough votes in Congress; and this rule remained in place for over 8 years, due to heavy pressure and lobbying from Southern pro-slavery states. It was not until 1844 the House rescinded this gag rule on a motion made by John Quincy Adams. A brave act rescind and recommence debate, however this polarisation proved to be one of the building blocks taking the country towards breaking point and civil war.

In 1844, the House rescinded this gag rule on a motion made by John Quincy Adams. Whatever his reasons, Joshua Atherton, as an early ardent anti-slavery campaigner would have objected to this rule

United States Senate

After winning his election bid, Atherton was elected to the United States Senate as a Democrat in 1843, and served from March 4th, 1843, to March 3rd, 1849. While in the Senate, Atherton served as Chairman of the Committee on Printing (Twenty-ninth Congress), the Committee on Roads and Canals (Twenty-ninth United States Congress), and the Committee on Finance (Thirtieth United States Congress).

Atherton and Samuel S. Phelps were the only New England Democratic and Whig Senators, respectively, to vote in favor of the Clayton Compromise bill.

He remained active politically for the Democratic Party, even when not serving in office. As an example of his political influence, a regional newspaper, “The Boston Pilot” of August 28th 1852 reported: “At the Democratic Barbecue in Hillsborough, the Hon. Charles G Atherton presided. Spirited speeches were made by Col. Savage of Tennessee, John Van Buren of New York, Senator J B Weller of California, Maj. Stevens of the U.S Army, Senator Clemens, of Alabama, Gen. Dix, of New York, Mr Gorman, of Indiana, Capt. Rynders, and others. The same gentlemen addressed the Democratic Meeting in Faneuil Hall on Friday night, which was kept up until after midnight. It was a spirited affair; and the speakers were all in good tune.”

After serving out his term Atherton was not then re-elected, resuming the practice of law in Nashua. However in November 1852, he was chosen to take the seat left vacant by John P. Hale and returned to the Senate after he took the oath of office for the term beginning March 4th, 1853.

Atherton was in the inner circle of Franklin Pierce, at the time he was elected as the 14th President in 1853.

Atherton was known to be a heavy whiskey drinker, and he did not attend the Presidential Inauguration of Franklin Pierce, most likely for health reasons, since he had traveled nationwide, campaigning heavily for Franklin Pierce to report first hand on his virtues, his sobriety, his affinity for immigrants, and his valor on the field of battle.[6]

Personal life

He married Ann (Nancy) Barnard Clark, a granddaughter of the Reverend Jeremiah Barnard, Minister for Amherst in 1828.[7] Atherton was a close friend to the Nathaniel Hawthorne. He had also been a close friend and ally of President Franklin Pierce, who had anticipated making him his spokesman in the Senate at the start of his presidency.[8][9]

Atherton died suddenly from pulmonary tuberculosis in Manchester, New Hampshire, on November 15, 1853. He was buried in Nashua Cemetery, New Hampshire. To mark the occasion of his death, as a Senator from the State of New Hampshire, an obituary was delivered in the United States Senate and in the House of Representatives, December 19th, 1853.

See also

• List of United States Congress members who died in office (1790–1899) - It states Tuberculosis as cause of death.

References

1. "Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume 1". 1888.
2. "Atherton One Name Study - C G Atherton Entry".
3. "A Brief Account of the Passage of the 'Atherton Gag' - Retrieved 16 January 2020". Digital Collections New York Public Library - A Brief Account of the Passage of the 'Atherton Gag‘ published in 1938.
4. Rodriguez, Junius P. (2007). Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical ..., Volume 1 by Junius P.Rodriguez. ISBN 9781851095445.
5. "Speech of Hon. Charles G. Atherton of New Hampshire on the twelve million loan bill : delivered in the House of Representatives, Monday, July 12, 1841".
6. Silbey, Joel H. (2014-01-06). A Companion to the Antebellum Presidents, 1837 - 1861 edited by Joel H. Silbey. ISBN 9781118609293.
7. Means, Anne Middleton (1921). Amherst and Our Family Tree. Priv. print. p. 66.
8. Hoyt, Edwin Palmer (1972). Franklin Pierce:The Fourteenth President of the United States by Edwin Palmer Hoyt. Abelard-Schuman. ISBN 9780200718288.- refers to a power vacuum with the loss of Atherton
9. "American National Biography: Franklin Pierce". - reference made to the loss of his ally in the Senate

• United States Congress. "Charles G. Atherton (id: A000323)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

• Biography

• Obituary

• Arguing about Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United State... William Lee Miller - Atherton is described as “Shifty”.
• Elected in 1843, replacing Leonard Wilcox.
• Appointment Charles Gordon Atherton Lt. Lafayette Riflemen in 5th Reg in 1827
• Appointment of Charles Gordon Atherton Capt. of Co. of Lafayette Riflemen 5th Reg in 1828

• Charles G. Atherton at Find a Grave
• U.S. Archives
• Keyword: "Tuesday, December 11, 1838" Search at 25th Congress, 3rd session, United States House of Representatives
• Office of the Historian and the Clerk of the House's Office of Art and Archives
• how CG Atherton voted

• Hamilton, ‘Neil (2010). Presidents: A Biographical Dictionary by Neil A. Hamilton. ISBN 9781438127514. page 116 details President Franklin Pierce's friendship with Senator Charles G. Atherton.
• Boertlein, John (2010). Presidential Confidential. Clerisy Press. ISBN 9781578603626. Book refers to the Presidents loss of a friend in Charles Gordon Atherton, shortly after the tragic death of the presidents son in Andover,MA. It also refers to C G Atherton allegedly being an alcoholic and it also refers to C G Atherton not attending the President Inauguration earlier in the year of his death.

• Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography: Aaron-Crandall edited by James Grant Wilson, John Fiske

Obituary Addresses on the Occasion of the Death of Hon. Charles G. Atherton: A Senator in Congress from the State of New Hampshire, Delivered in the Senate and House of Representatives, December 19, 1853

• Atherton died suddenly leaving a serious vacuum in the Senate

• Article in Boston Pilot, Aug 28th, 1852, page 8 describing Atherton presiding over a Democratic Party event in Boston and in New Hampshire the following evening.

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Benning M. Bean Robert Burns Samuel Cushman Franklin Pierce Joseph Weeks	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Hampshire's at-large congressional district March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1843 Served alongside: Samuel Cushman, James Farrington, Joseph Weeks, Jared W. Williams, Edmund Burke, Ira A. Eastman, Tristram Shaw and John R. Reding	Succeeded by Edmund Burke John P. Hale Moses Norris, Jr. John R. Reding
U.S. Senate
Preceded by Leonard Wilcox	U.S. senator (Class 3) from New Hampshire March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1849 Served alongside: Levi Woodbury, Benning W. Jenness, Joseph Cilley and John P. Hale	Succeeded by Moses Norris, Jr.
Preceded by John P. Hale	U.S. senator (Class 2) from New Hampshire March 4, 1853 – November 15, 1853 Served alongside: Moses Norris, Jr.	Succeeded by Jared W. Williams
Political offices
Preceded by Dixon Lewis Alabama	Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance 1847–1849	Succeeded by Daniel Dickinson New York