George Van Ness Lothrop (August 8, 1817 – July 12, 1897) was a politician in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

, serving as the seventh

Michigan Attorney General The Attorney General of the State of Michigan is the fourth-ranking official in the U.S. state of Michigan. The officeholder is elected statewide in the November general election alongside the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, m ...

from 1848 until 1851.

Biography

Lothrop was born in

Easton, Massachusetts Easton is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,058 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Boston area. Easton is governed by an elected Select Board. Open Town Meeting acts as the legislative br ...

, the son of Howard Lothrop and Sally (Williams) Lothrop. George grew up on the family farm in Easton. George's sister Sarah married

Oliver Ames Jr. Oliver Ames Jr. (November 5, 1807 – March 9, 1877) was president of Union Pacific Railroad when the railroad met the Central Pacific Railroad in Utah for the completion of the First transcontinental railroad in North America. Biography Born i ...

, a railroad industrialist. George studied for one year at

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educati ...

, and graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 1838. He started law school at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...

, but didn't finish due to ill health. He was a member of

Alpha Delta Phi Alpha Delta Phi (), commonly known as Alpha Delt, ADPhi, A-Delt, or ADP, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. Alpha Delta Phi was originally founded as a literary society by Samuel Eells in 1832 at Hamilton College in C ...

and

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

. He moved to live on his brother

Edwin The name Edwin means "rich friend". It comes from the Old English elements "ead" (rich, blessed) and "ƿine" (friend). The original Anglo-Saxon form is Eadƿine, which is also found for Anglo-Saxon figures. People * Edwin of Northumbria (die ...

's farm in Prairie Ronde, Michigan, to recover. In 1843, Lothrop moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

to finish his law studies, and found success as a lawyer. Lothrop was married in 1847 to Almira Strong of

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

. Lothrop was a candidate for U.S. Representative from

Michigan's 1st congressional district Michigan's 1st congressional district is a United States congressional district containing the entire Upper Peninsula of Michigan and 16 counties of Northern Michigan in the Lower Peninsula. The district is currently represented by Republican J ...

, losing to Republican

William Alanson Howard William Alanson Howard (April 8, 1813 – April 10, 1880) served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan from March 4, 1855 to March 3, 1859 and from May 15, 1860 to March 3, 1861. Howard was the sixth Governor of ...

in 1856 and to Bradley F. Granger in 1860. He was a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

from Michigan in 1860 and a delegate to the Michigan State Constitutional convention in 1867 (which did not produce a constitution approved by the voters). Lothrup served as U.S. Minister to Russia from 1885 to 1888. He died on July 12, 1897, in Detroit of

hyperthermia Hyperthermia, also known simply as overheating, is a condition in which an individual's body temperature is elevated beyond normal due to failed thermoregulation. The person's body produces or absorbs more heat than it dissipates. When extrem ...

. He is interred Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit.

Family

Lothrop's brother, Edwin H. Lothrop, was Speaker of the

Michigan State House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2010 U ...

in 1844. Lothrop's daughter, Emily Anne "Nan" Lothrop (1860–1927), married Baron Barthold Theodorevitch von Hoyningen-Huene (1859–1942), a Baltic nobleman and military officer, and their son was the noted fashion photographer

George Hoyningen-Huene Baron George Hoyningen-Huene (September 4, 1900 – September 12, 1968) was a fashion photographer of the 1920s and 1930s. He was born in the Russian Empire to Baltic German and American parents and spent his working life in France, England and t ...

. His brother-in-law,

, was affiliated with the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

Memorials

A Michigan historical marker on Charlevoix Avenue in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, commemorates a stand of pine trees that Lothrop planted on the site in 1878. These trees became the "feeder stock" for many of the pine groves that are now widespread in the eastern suburbs of Detroit. The street just across Charlevoix Avenue from the pine plantation is named Lothrop Road in his honor.

External links

*
The Political Graveyard

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lothrup, George V. N. 1817 births 1897 deaths Michigan Democrats Michigan Attorneys General Ambassadors of the United States to Russia Brown University alumni Deaths from hyperthermia Burials at Elmwood Cemetery (Detroit) People from Easton, Massachusetts 19th-century American diplomats 19th-century American politicians