James Appleton

Brig. Gen. James Appleton (February 14, 1785 – August 25, 1862)[1] was an American abolitionist, early supporter of temperance, and politician from Maine.[2]

Gen. James Appleton
Member of the Maine House of Representatives
In office
1836–1839
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office
1813–1834
Personal details
Born(1785-02-14)February 14, 1785
Ipswich, Massachusetts
DiedAugust 25, 1862(1862-08-25) (aged 77)
Ipswich, Massachusetts
NationalityAmerican
Political partyFederalist, Whig, Liberty
Spouse(s)
Sarah Fuller
​
(
m. 1807; his death 1862)
RelationsWilliam Appleton (cousin)
Samuel Appleton (cousin)
Nathan Appleton(cousin)
Children10
ParentsSamuel Appleton
Mary White
OccupationPublisher

Early life

Appleton was born on February 14, 1785 in Ipswich, Massachusetts on a family farm that had been granted to his ancestor, Samuel Appleton, in 1636.[3] His parents were Samuel Appleton (1738–1819) and Mary (nee White) Appleton (d. 1834), daughter of Rev. Timothy White,[4] and his younger brothers were Timothy Appleton (1778–1857) and Samuel Appleton (1771–1852).[5]

His paternal grandparents were Elizabeth Sawyer (1709–1785) and Isaac Appleton (1704–1794), the son of Isaac Appleton (1664–1747) and Priscilla Baker, granddaughter of Lt. Gov. Samuel Symonds.[6] Appleton was also the cousin of U.S. Rep.William Appleton (1786–1862), merchant Samuel Appleton (1766–1853), and U.S. Rep. Nathan Appleton (1779–1861).[3]

Career

Appleton fought in the War of 1812, commissioned July 3, 1813,[7] and earned the rank of Lieutenant colonel with the Massachusetts Militia and was later promoted to the rank of Brigadier general.[8] He commanded actions at Sandy Bay in September 1814 and Gallop's Folly in October 1814.[7] Appleton lived much of his life in Ipswich, Massachusetts and nearby Marblehead, Massachusetts prior to moving to Maine.[2]

Massachusetts General Court

In 1813 and 1814, at the age of 28, Appleton, a practicing lawyer, was elected to represent Gloucester as a Federalist to the Massachusetts legislature where he was an outspoken critic of the Missouri Compromise.[8] In 1824, he was the official escort of the Marquis de Lafayette upon his visit to Boston.[5] In 1832, he presented a petition to the Massachusetts legislature prohibiting sales of liquor in fewer quantities than thirty gallons.[4]

Maine politics

In 1833, he moved to Portland, Maine, and was elected to the Maine House of Representatives[2] in 1836. The following year, he was chairman of a committee to consider the license system.[4] In 1837,[9] he submitted a report on the evils of liquor that became the basis of the Maine Temperance Law of 1846.[10] The report was considered by Neal Dow to be the first official document in the history of Maine prohibiting the liquor traffic.[4]

In 1839 and 1840, he was vice president of the American Anti-Slavery Society.[11]

In the 1842, 1843, and 1844 gubernatorial elections, Appleton ran for Governor of Maine with the Liberty Party, an abolitionist political party.[11] In 1848, he was a Free Soil presidential elector supporting Martin Van Buren.[11]

In 1861, during the Civil War, James gave patriotic speeches defending the Union and in support of abolition.[5]

Personal life

On November 15, 1807,[4] he was married to Sarah Fuller (1787–1872), the daughter of Rev. Daniel Fuller and Hannah Bowers, of Gloucester. Together, they were the parents of:[12][3]

  • Samuel Gilman Appleton (1808–1873), who married Sarah Gardiner, daughter of Rev. Sylvester Gardiner, in 1839.[12]
  • Sarah Fuller Appleton (1811–1884), who married Rev. Stephen Caldwell Millett in 1833.[12]
  • James Appleton (1813–1884), who married Sarah Bristol Edwards, daughter of Samuel L. Edwards, in 1842.[12]
  • Mary White Appleton (1815–1905), who did not marry.[12]
  • Elizabeth Putnam Appleton (1818–1897), who married Shelton L. Hall in 1845.[12]
  • Joanna Dodge Appleton (1821–1870), who married Peyton R. Morgan in 1843.[12]
  • Hannah Fuller Appleton (1823–1903), who married Robert Helyer Thayer (1820–1888).[12]
  • Daniel Fuller Appleton (1826–1904), who married Julia Randall (d. 1886), daughter of Nicholas P. Randall. After her death, he married Susan Cowles, daughter of John P. Cowles, in 1889.[12]
  • Harriette Hooper Appleton (1828–1905), who married Rev. John Cotton Smith, rector of St John's Church, Portland, and later of the Church of the Ascension in New York City, in 1849.[12]
  • Anna Whittemore Appleton (1831–); married Dr. Charles H. Osgood, in 1852.[12]

He lived in Portland from 1833 until 1853 when his elder brother, Timothy Appleton, called him to help manage the family farm in Ipswich.[6] He retired back to Ipswich, buying out his father's surviving heirs and became the sole owner of Appleton Farm in 1857. He died there in 1862.[2][3]

Descendants

Through his son, Daniel, he was the grandfather of 36 including Francis Randall Appleton, a noted New York society man during the Gilded Age.

Honors

The Woman’s Relief Corps gave a marker on Ipswich’s North Green, named in honor of Appleton and in memory of the unknown soldiers and sailors of the Civil War.[5]

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References
  1. "MHS Collections Online: James Appleton". www.masshist.org. Massachusetts Historical Society. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  2. Appleton, Daniel Fuller (1886). The Origin of the Maine Law and of Prohibitory Legislation: With a Brief Memoir of James Appleton. National temperance society and publication house. pp. 15–. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  3. Appleton, William Sumner (1873). A Rough Sketch of the Appleton Genealogy. T.R. Marvin & Son. p. 26. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  4. Hannan, Caryn (2008). Massachusetts Biographical Dictionary. State History Publications. pp. 26–27. ISBN 9781878592668. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  5. Dolan, Susan Hill; Campbell, Rebecca Gardner (Fall 2013). "Generations of Appleton Family Portraits" (PDF). thetrustees.org. Ipswich, Massachusetts: The Trustees of Reservations. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  6. "Appleton Family Papers" (PDF). thetrustees.access.preservica.com. Sharon, MA: The Trustees of Reservations, Archives & Research Center. April 2008. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  7. Webb, Henry Randall; Noble, Henry Harmon (June 1, 1908). The Constitution and Register of Membership of the General Society of the War of 1812. Philadelphia, PA: The Order of the General Society | The Law Reporter Printing Co. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  8. "Boston's Crusade Against Slavery - Houghton Library". hcl.harvard.edu. Harvard University. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  9. Byrne 1961, pp. 24–26.
  10. Byrne, Frank L. (1961). Prophet of Prohibition: Neal Dow and His Crusade. Madison, Wisconsin: State Historical Society of Wisconsin. OCLC 2126034.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  11. Johnson, Reinhard O. (2009). The Liberty Party, 1840-1848: Antislavery Third-Party Politics in the United States. LSU Press. p. 380. ISBN 9780807142639. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  12. Cutter, William Richard (1913). New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 179. Retrieved June 22, 2017.

Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). "Appleton, James" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.

Party political offices
First Liberty nominee for Governor of Maine
1844		 Succeeded by
Samuel Fessenden
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