Clinton Bowen Fisk (December 8, 1828 - July 9, 1890) was a senior officer during Reconstruction in the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands and served as the

Prohibition Party The Prohibition Party (PRO) is a political party in the United States known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages and as an integral part of the temperance movement. It is the oldest existing third party ...

's presidential candidate during the 1888 presidential election.

Fisk University Fisk University is a private historically black liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1930, Fisk was the first Africa ...

was named in his honor after he endowed it with $30,000. Reavis L. Mitchell, Jr., "Clinton Bowen Fisk"
, ''The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 1998, accessed 3 Mar 2009 In addition, he helped establish the first free public schools in the Southern United States for white and African-American children.

Life

Early life

Clinton Bowen Fisk was born on December 8, 1828 in York,

Livingston County, New York Livingston County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 61,834. Its county seat is Geneseo. The county is named after Robert R. Livingston, who helped draft the Declaration of Independence and ...

to Benjamin Bigford Fisk and Lydia Aldrich Powell. As part of the 19th-century westward migration, his family soon moved to Coldwater, Michigan. He studied in the preliminary course at Albion Seminary before becoming one of the five students to

matriculate Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used no ...

on the opening day of

Michigan Central College Hillsdale College is a Private university, private Conservatism in the United States, conservative Christian liberal arts college in Hillsdale, Michigan. It was founded in 1844 by Abolitionism, abolitionists known as Free Will Baptists. Its missio ...

in 1844. Fisk later became a merchant, miller, and banker in Coldwater, but suffered financial disaster in the

Panic of 1857 The Panic of 1857 was a financial panic in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Because of the invention of the telegraph by Samuel F. Morse in 1844, the Panic of 1857 was ...

. In 1859 he moved to St. Louis, Missouri where he started working in the insurance business.

Civil War

After the start of the Civil War Fisk joined the Union Army in 1861 as a private and was appointed colonel of the

33rd Missouri Volunteer Infantry The 33rd Missouri Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 33rd Missouri Infantry Regiment was organized at Benton Barracks August 29 through September 5, 1862 and mu ...

of the Union Army on September 5, 1862. He was later commissioned as brigadier general in charge of a brigade on November 24, 1862 and also served on Major General George Armstrong Custer's staff. He served most of the American Civil War in Missouri and Arkansas, commanding first the District of Southeast Missouri and later the Department of North Missouri to opposing raids into Missouri by Confederate cavalry and guerrillas. In 1865 he was promoted to brevet major general.

Freedmen's Bureau and Fisk University

After the Civil War, Fisk was appointed assistant commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau for Kentucky and Tennessee under the command of Oliver Otis Howard.Warner, Ezra J, "Generals in Blue", LSU Press, 1964, p. 155 He worked through the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands and the

American Missionary Association The American Missionary Association (AMA) was a Protestant-based abolitionist group founded on in Albany, New York. The main purpose of the organization was abolition of slavery, education of African Americans, promotion of racial equality, and ...

to establish the first free schools in the American South for both black and white children. He made the abandoned barracks in Nashville, Tennessee available to the

for the creation of the Fisk School, and endowed it with a total of $30,000.

Politics

After authorizing legislation expired for the Freedmen's Bureau, Fisk returned to his native New York where he returned to banking. In 1874 President Ulysses S. Grant appointed him to the

Board of Indian Commissioners The Board of Indian Commissioners was a committee that advised the federal government of the United States on Native American policy and inspected supplies delivered to Indian agencies to ensure the fulfillment of government treaty obligations. Hi ...

. He was a zealous leader of the prohibition movement. In 1886 he ran for governor of New Jersey with the Prohibition nomination. During the 1888 presidential election he served the Prohibition Party's presidential nominee after being given the nomination by acclamation on June 6, 1888. He was accused of being a possible

spoiler candidate Vote splitting is an electoral effect in which the distribution of votes among multiple similar candidates reduces the chance of winning for any of the similar candidates, and increases the chance of winning for a dissimilar candidate. Vote spl ...

that would prevent Benjamin Harrison from winning like John St. John had been accused of in 1884. Harrison won the election although without winning the national popular vote. "General," said one Republican to Fisk, "if I should vote for this rohibitionbill it would lay me in my political grave." "Vote for it and die, then," Fisk responded, "and I will write on your tombstone, 'Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord'"

Death and legacy

Fisk died in New York City on July 9, 1890, from

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

and was buried in Coldwater, Michigan. Prohibition Park, a planned community on

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, named one of its major streets Clinton B. Fisk Avenue in his honor. The name remains, although the community changed its name to

Westerleigh Westerleigh is a clustered village and civil parish (which includes Henfield) in South Gloucestershire, England, it contains sources of the Frome and has an endpoint of the Frome Valley Walkway. It is north of the M4, south of Yate and nort ...

. In 2001 he was the first to be inducted into the new Hillsdale County, Michigan Veterans' Hall of Fame, for his distinguished service in the American Civil War. (Hall of Fame inductee 001, Civil War inductee 001.)

Electoral history

References

External links

Clinton B. Fisk
Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture {{DEFAULTSORT:Fisk, Clinton Bowen 1828 births 1890 deaths People from York, New York People of Missouri in the American Civil War People of New York (state) in the American Civil War Union Army generals Hillsdale College alumni American temperance activists New York (state) Prohibitionists New Jersey Prohibitionists Missouri Prohibitionists Prohibition Party (United States) presidential nominees Candidates in the 1888 United States presidential election