Albert Gallatin Riddle (May 28, 1816 – May 15, 1902) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Early life

Born in

Monson, Massachusetts Monson is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,150 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The census-designated place of Monson Center lies at the ...

, Riddle moved with his parents to Newbury, in the Western Reserve of Ohio, in 1817. He completed preparatory studies, and then studied law.

Career

Riddle was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1840 and began practice in

Geauga County Geauga County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,397. The county seat is Chardon. The county is named for an Onondaga or Seneca language word meaning 'raccoon', originally the name of the ...

, serving as

prosecuting attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial ...

of that county 1840-1846. He served as member of the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in Ch ...

1848-1850, and in 1848 called the first

Free Soil The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery into ...

convention in Ohio. Riddle moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1850. He was elected prosecuting attorney in 1856, and in 1859 he defended the Oberlin slave rescuers. He served as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

in the Thirty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863), making speeches in favor of arming slaves, the first on this subject that were delivered in Congress, and others on emancipation in the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and in vindication of

President Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1862. After his term in Congress, Riddle served as

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

Matanzas, Cuba Matanzas (Cuban ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas (Spanish ''Bahia de Matanzas''), east ...

, in 1863 and 1864. He then returned to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and again engaged in the practice of law. He was retained by the State Department to aid in the prosecution of John H. Surratt as one of the accomplices in the murder of President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

. He also served as law officer of the District of Columbia 1877-1889. He was in charge of the law department at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

for several years after its establishment.

Death and legacy

Riddle died at his home in

on May 15, 1902. He was interred in

Rock Creek Cemetery Rock Creek Cemetery is an cemetery with a natural and rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, off Hawaii Avenue, NE, in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. It is across the stre ...

. His papers are at the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio. They include the unpublished manuscript ''Accounts of experiences in Cuba'' (1862-1864).

Works

* ''Students and Lawyers'', lectures (Washington, 1873) * ''Bart Ridgeley, a Story of Northern Ohio'' (Boston, 1873) * ''The Portrait, a Romance of Cuyahoga Valley'' (1874) * ''Alice Brand, a Tale of the Capitol'' (New York, 1875) * ''Life, Character, and Public Services of James A. Garfield'' (Cleveland, 1880) * ''The House of Ross'' (Boston, 1881) * ''Castle Gregory'' (Cleveland, 1882) * ''Hart and his Bear'' (Washington, 1883) * ''The Young Sugar Makers of the West Woods'' (Cleveland, 1885) * ''The Hunter of the Chagrin'' (1882) * ''Mark Loan, a Tale of the Western Reserve'' (1883) * ''Old Newberry and the Pioneers'' (1884) * ''Speeches and Arguments'' (Washington, 1886) * ''Life of Benjamin F. Wade'' (Cleveland, 1886) * ''Recollections of War Times, 1860-65'' * ''Ansel's Cave: A Story of Early Life in the Western Reserve'' (Cleveland, 1893)

References

* *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Riddle, Albert Gallatin 1816 births 1902 deaths Ohio lawyers People from Monson, Massachusetts People from Geauga County, Ohio Politicians from Cleveland People associated with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives County district attorneys in Ohio 19th-century American diplomats Writers from Massachusetts Writers from Cleveland American consuls 19th-century American politicians Burials at Rock Creek Cemetery Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio