Edward W. Stanly (January 10, 1810 – July 12, 1872) was an American lawyer and politician. He was a North Carolina politician and orator who represented the southeastern portion of the state in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

for five terms. In

1857 Events January–March * January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, '' Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. * January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating. * Ja ...

, Stanly ran for

governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The Governor (United States), governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constit ...

, but lost to John B. Weller. Politicians of the mid-nineteenth century remarked that Stanly bore a strong physical resemblance to

William H. Seward William Henry Seward (; May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States senator. A determined opp ...

, though this resemblance lessened over time.

Biography

Stanly was born in

New Bern, North Carolina New Bern, formerly Newbern, is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 31,291 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located at the confluence of the Neuse River, Neuse a ...

, on January 10, 1810. He was a son of U.S. Representative John Stanly of New Bern and a cousin of U.S. Senator

George Edmund Badger George Edmund Badger (April 17, 1795May 11, 1866) was an American politician who served as a Whig U.S. senator from the state of North Carolina. Early life Badger was born on April 17, 1795, in New Bern, North Carolina. He attended Yale Coll ...

. Stanly attended New Bern Academy and graduated from the American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy,

Norwich University Norwich University is a private university in Northfield, Vermont, United States. The university was founded in 1819 as the "American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy". It is the oldest of six senior military college, senior militar ...

in 1829. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1832. He settled in Beaufort County and began to practice law. Four years later, he successfully ran for a seat in the

on the Whig ticket. He served in the Twenty-fifth, Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh congresses from March 4, 1837, to March 3, 1843. Stanly earned his reputation as North Carolina's greatest orator of his generation during his first term in Congress. Throughout his service in Congress, Stanly was a leader of the Southerners who emphasized the Union over states' rights. He won the nickname the 'Conqueror' during his re-election campaign of 1839. After an unsuccessful bid for re-election in 1843 due to unfavorable redistricting, Stanly returned to North Carolina, where he served as a member of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1844 to 1846 and again in 1848. He was speaker of the State House from 1844 to 1846, and his impartial presiding was hailed by Commoners of both parties as returning dignity to the chamber in the place of the former political rancor. Stanly served briefly as

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

of North Carolina in 1847-1848. In 1849, Stanly was again elected to the U.S. House, serving two terms from March 4, 1849, to March 3, 1853. He declined to run for a sixth term in the elections of 1853 and instead moved to California and practiced law in San Francisco. He was the Republican Party’s unsuccessful candidate for

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

and

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

in 1857. He served as a general in the Union Army during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, and he was also a slaveowner.

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

appointed Stanly military governor of eastern North Carolina with the rank of brigadier general on May 26, 1862. Stanly resigned this office less than a year later on March 2, 1863, in a dispute with President Lincoln over the

Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War. The Proclamation had the eff ...

. He returned to California and resumed his law practice. He died in San Francisco on July 12, 1872. He is buried in the Stanly family plot at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.

Personal life

On May 11, 1859, in San Francisco, Stanly married Cornelia Baldwin, the sister of Joseph G. Baldwin, a Virginia-born attorney who served on the

California Supreme Court The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sac ...

. She died April 13, 1903, in San Francisco. Stanly's sister married General

Walker Keith Armistead Walker Keith Armistead (March 25, 1773 – October 13, 1845) was a military officer who served as Chief of Engineers of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Armistead was born in Upperville, Fauquier County, Virginia, and served as an ord ...

. His brother, Fabius Stanly, was a Unionist and rear admiral in the U.S. Navy. Stanly's nephew Brigadier General Lewis Armistead, fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Armistead led a brigade in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...

at Pickett’s Charge during the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was a three-day battle in the American Civil War, which was fought between the Union and Confederate armies between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, won by the Union, ...

. Stanly and Armistead were born in the same house in New Bern, North Carolina. The home stands today.

Sources consulted

NCpedia

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanly, Edward 1810 births 1872 deaths Politicians from New Bern, North Carolina People of North Carolina in the American Civil War California Republicans Norwich University alumni Burials at Mountain View Cemetery (Oakland, California) Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina North Carolina attorneys general Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives Union army generals Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the North Carolina General Assembly

Biography

Personal life

Sources consulted

Further reading

References

External links