Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen

Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen (August 4, 1817 – May 20, 1885)[1] was an American lawyer and politician from New Jersey who served as a U.S. Senator and later as United States Secretary of State under President Chester A. Arthur.[2]

Frederick Frelinghuysen
29th United States Secretary of State
In office December 19, 1881 – March 6, 1885
President	Chester A. Arthur Grover Cleveland
Preceded by	James G. Blaine
Succeeded by	Thomas F. Bayard
United States senator from New Jersey
In office March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1877
Preceded by	Alexander G. Cattell
Succeeded by	John R. McPherson
In office November 12, 1866 – March 3, 1869
Preceded by	William Wright
Succeeded by	John P. Stockton
22nd Attorney General of New Jersey
In office 1861–1867
Governor	Charles Smith Olden Joel Parker Marcus Lawrence Ward
Preceded by	William L. Dayton
Succeeded by	George M. Robeson
Personal details
Born	Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen (1817-08-04)August 4, 1817 Millstone, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	May 20, 1885(1885-05-20) (aged 67) Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Political party	Whig (Before 1860) Republican (1860–death)
Spouse(s)	Matilda Griswold ​ ( m. 1842; his death 1885)
Children	6, including Frederick, George
Education	Rutgers University, New Brunswick (BA)
Signature

Statue in Newark

Early life and education

Frelinghuysen was born in Millstone, New Jersey, to Frederick Frelinghuysen (1788–1820) and Mary Dumont. His father died when he was just three years old, and he was adopted by his uncle,[3] Theodore Frelinghuysen (1787–1862).

His grandfather, Frederick Frelinghuysen (1753–1804), was an eminent lawyer, one of the framers of the first New Jersey Constitution, a soldier in the American Revolutionary War, a member (1778–1779 and 1782–1783) of the Continental Congress from New Jersey, and from 1793 to 1796 a member of the United States Senate.[3]

His uncle, Theodore Frelinghuysen, was Attorney General of New Jersey from 1817 to 1829, was a U.S. Senator from New Jersey from 1829 to 1835, was the Whig candidate for Vice President of the United States on the Henry Clay ticket in the 1844 Presidential election, and was Chancellor of New York University from 1839 until 1850 and president of Rutgers College from 1850 to 1862.[3]

Frelinghuysen graduated from Rutgers College in 1836, and studied law in Newark with his uncle, to whose practice he succeeded in 1839, after he was admitted to the bar.[2][3]

Career

Following his admission to the bar, he became attorney for the Central Railroad of New Jersey, the Morris Canal and Banking Company and other corporations.[2]

Political career

Frelinghuysen was a delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention from New Jersey and from 1861 to 1867 was Attorney General of New Jersey. He was a delegate to the Peace conference of 1861 in Washington, and in 1866 was appointed by the Governor of New Jersey, as a Republican, to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate. In the winter of 1867, he was elected to fill the unexpired term, but a Democratic majority in the New Jersey Legislature prevented his re-election in 1869.[2][3]

In 1870, he was nominated by President Ulysses S. Grant, and confirmed by the Senate, as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom to succeed John Lothrop Motley, but declined the mission. From 1871 to 1877 he was again a member of the United States Senate, in which he was prominent in debate and in committee work, and was chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs during the Alabama Claims negotiations.[2][3]

He was a strong opponent of the Reconstruction measures of President Andrew Johnson, for whose conviction he voted (on most of the specific charges) in the impeachment trial. He was a member of the joint committee which drew up and reported (1877) the Electoral Commission Bill, and subsequently served as a member of the Electoral Commission that decided the 1876 Presidential election.[3] As a Republican, he voted with the eight-member majority on all counts.[2]

U.S. Secretary of State

On December 12, 1881, he was appointed United States Secretary of State by President Chester A. Arthur to succeed James G. Blaine, and served until the inauguration of President Grover Cleveland in 1885.[4]

After his term as Secretary of State Frelinghuysen returned to his home in Newark where he died less than three months after retiring.[5]

Marriage and children

On January 25, 1842, Frelinghuysen married Matilda Elizabeth Griswold (1817–1889).[6] She was the daughter of George Griswold,[7] a merchant in New York City who "made an immense fortune in the time of the clipper trade with China."[6] Together, they were the parents of three daughters and three sons, including:[7]

• Matilda Griswold Frelinghuysen (1846–1926),[8] who married Henry Winthrop Gray (1840–1906),[9] a prominent merchant[7] in 1889.[10]
• Charlotte Louisa "Lucy" Frelinghuysen (1847–1930),[11] who did not marry.[7]
• Frederick Frelinghuysen (1848–1924),[12] who married Estelle B. Kinney, daughter of Thomas T. Kinney, in 1902.[13]
• George Griswold Frelinghuysen (1851–1936),[14] who married Sara Linen Ballantine, granddaughter of Peter Ballantine, in 1881.[15]
• Sarah Helen Frelinghuysen (1856–1939),[16] who first married Judge John J. Davis (1851–1902), the grandson of Massachusetts governor John Davis. After his death, she married Brig. Gen. Charles Laurie McCawley (1865–1935), the son of Charles G. McCawley, the 8th Commandant of the Marine Corps, in 1906.[16]
• Theodore Frelinghuysen (1860–1928),[17] who married Alice Dudley Coats (1861–1889) in 1885.[18] After her death, he married Elizabeth Mary "Lily" (née Thompson) Cannon, a daughter of William G. Thompson and descendant of Elijah Brush, both Mayors of Detroit, and the widow of Henry Lee Grand Cannon.[17]

Frelinghuysen died at Newark on May 20, 1885, aged 67.[1] He was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Newark.[19][20][21] His widow died a few years later in February 1889.[6]

Descendants

Through his eldest son Frederick, he was the grandfather of George Griswold Frelinghuysen II, who married Anne de Smolianinof; Estelle C. "Suzy" Frelinghuysen, who married fellow painter George Lovett Kingsland Morris; Frederick Frelinghuysen; Thomas Frelinghuysen; and Theodore Frelinghuysen.[22][23]

Through his daughter Sarah and granddaughter Mathilda Elizabeth Frelinghuysen (née Davis) Lodge (1876–1960), who married George Cabot Lodge, he was the great-grandfather of Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (1902–1985), the diplomat and United States Senator from Massachusetts,[24][25] and John Davis Lodge (1903–1985), also a diplomat, U.S. Representative, and Governor of Connecticut.[26]

References

Notes

1. "Death of Mr. Frelinghuysen.; the Career of President Arthur's Secretary of State". The New York Times. 21 May 1885. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
2. "FRELINGHUYSEN, Frederick Theodore - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
3.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Frelinghuysen, Frederick Theodore". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
4. Sayles, Stephen. The Romero-Frelinghuysen Convention: A Milestone in Border Relations. New Mexico Historical Review 51 (October 1976): 295-311.
5. Rollins, John William. Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen, 1817-1885: The Politics and Diplomacy of Stewardship. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 1974
6. "MRS. F. T. FRELINGHUYSEN". The New York Times. 4 February 1889. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
7. Lee, Francis Bazley (1910). Genealogical and Memorial History of the State of New Jersey ... Lewis historical Publishing Company. p. 14. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
8. "MRS. M.G.F. GRAY OF OLD FAMILY DIES; Daughter of F. T. Frelinghuysen, Once Secretary of State-Funeral Today". The New York Times. 25 March 1926. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
9. "DIED. Gray". The New York Times. 15 October 1906. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
10. "In Bonds of Matrimony; Marriage of Mr. Gray and Miss. Frelinghuysen. a Quiet Ceremony at the Homestead of the Bride's Family". The New York Times. 17 May 1889. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
11. "Charlotte Frelinghuysen". The New York Times. 19 July 1930. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
12. "Frederick Frelinghuysen. Ex-President of Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company Dies". New York Times. January 2, 1924. Retrieved May 30, 2007. Frelinghuysen was President of the Benefit Life Insurance Company in Newark for ... to become President of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company. ...
13. "Frederick Frelinghuysen's Engagement". The New York Times. 7 July 1902. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
14. "G.G. FRELINGHUYSEN DIES AT AGE OF 84; Son of Arthur's Secretary Of State Was Lawyer Here for Half century. KIN OF NOTED GENERAL Parent, Great-Uncle, Cousin All Served New Jersey in the United States Senate" (PDF). The New York Times. April 22, 1936. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
15. "G.G. Frelinghuysen Dies. Son of Arthur's Secretary Of State Was Lawyer". New York Times. April 22, 1936.
16. "MRS. S.H. M'CAWLEY, WASHINGTON HOSTESS; Grandmother of Senator Lodge Dies in Home at Capital". The New York Times. 20 February 1939. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
17. "THEO. FRELINGHUYSEN DIES IN HIS 68TH YEAR; Member of Old New Jersey Family Was Son of Secretary of State in Arthur Cabinet". The New York Times. January 31, 1928. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
18. "Married at Newport.; Miss Coats and Mr. Frelinghuysen". The New York Times. 26 August 1885. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
19. American National Biography
20. Dictionary of American Biography
21. "Mr. Frelinghuysen Buried.; Many Distinguished Persons Honor the Memory of the Ex-Secretary". The New York Times. 24 May 1885. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
22. "G.G. Frelinghuysen Weds Russian Girl. Anne de Smolianinoff, Daughter of Former Grand Master of Imperial Court, His Bride". New York Times. December 14, 1934. Retrieved May 30, 2007. Daughter of Former Grand Master of Imperial Court, His Bride. Mrs. Vladimir N. de Smolianinof of West Seventy-fifth Street announced yesterday the ...
23. "Obtains Decree in Reno; Former Anne de Smolianinof Divorces G. G. Frelinghuysen". The New York Times. June 7, 1938. Retrieved May 30, 2007. Mrs. Anne de Smolianinoff Frelinghuysen obtained a divorce here today from George Griswold Frelinghuysen of Princeton, New Jersey, on grounds of cruelty. They were married on December 12, 1934, in Los Angeles.
24. "Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. Photographs II". The Massachusetts Historical Society. MHS. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
25. Jackson, Kenneth T. (1998). The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives: 1981-1985. Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 9780684804927. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
26. "LODGE, John Davis, (1903–1985)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved July 29, 2011.

Sources

• "Frelinghuysen, Theodorus Jacobus" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900.

External links

• Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen at Find a Grave
• United States Congress. "Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen (id: F000369)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Biographical information for Frederick T. Frelinghuysen from the Political Graveyard

Legal offices
Preceded by William L. Dayton	New Jersey Attorney General 1861–1866	Succeeded by George M. Robeson
U.S. Senate
Preceded by William Wright	U.S. senator (Class 1) from New Jersey 1866–1869 Served alongside: Alexander G. Cattell	Succeeded by John P. Stockton
Preceded by Alexander Cattell	U.S. senator (Class 2) from New Jersey 1871–1877 Served alongside: John P. Stockton, Theodore F. Randolph	Succeeded by John R. McPherson
Political offices
Preceded by James G. Blaine	U.S. Secretary of State Served under: Chester A. Arthur 1881–1885	Succeeded by Thomas F. Bayard