Garnett Bowditch Adrain (December 15, 1815 in New York City – August 17, 1878 in
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Democratic Party politician, who was a two-term member of 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 ...
from
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
from 1857 to 1861.
Early life and education
Adrain was born to
Robert Adrain
Robert Adrain (30 September 1775 – 10 August 1843) was an Irish political exile who won renown as a mathematician in the United States. He left Ireland after leading republican insurgents in the Rebellion of 1798, and settled in New Jersey ...
and Ann Pollock in a family of seven children. He moved with his parents to
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Rutgers College
Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...
, New Brunswick, in 1833. He went on to study law in his brother's office. Adrain was licensed as an attorney in 1836 and as a counselor in 1839.
He married Mary Smith Griggs (1817–1886).
U.S. House of Representatives
He was elected as a
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY)
**Democratic Part ...
Anti-Lecompton Democrat
The Lecompton Constitution (1858) was the second of four proposed state constitutions of Kansas. Named for the city of Lecompton, Kansas where it was drafted, it was strongly pro-slavery. It never went into effect.
History Purpose
The Lecompton C ...
to the Thirty-sixth Congress, serving in Congress from March 4, 1857 to March 3, 1861, where he represented
New Jersey's 3rd congressional district
New Jersey's 3rd congressional district is a suburban district in southern and central New Jersey. Centrally located on the I-95 corridor in the Northeast Megalopolis, at the cross-roads between the Delaware Valley region in the greater Phi ...
. He was chairman of the Engraving Committee in both congresses.
He was not a candidate for reelection in 1860 and went back to his profession as an attorney.
Death
He died in New Brunswick on August 17, 1878, and was buried in Van Liew Cemetery,
North Brunswick, New Jersey
North Brunswick is a Township (New Jersey), township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is centrally located in the Raritan River, Raritan Valley region within the New York metropolitan area. A ...
.
Quotes
*''Secession—peaceable secession, as it is called ... in fact rebellion.''
*''Nothing but a rope of sand, of no strength whatever to hold the States together, and which may be broken at any moment.''
Name
The name Bowditch in his name originates from
Nathaniel Bowditch
Nathaniel Bowditch (March 26, 1773 – March 16, 1838) was an early American mathematician remembered for his work on ocean navigation. He is often credited as the founder of modern maritime navigation; his book '' The New American Practical Navi ...
, a prominent author who worked with his father.Richard William Farebrother, ''Fitting Linear Relationships: A History of the Calculus of Observations 1750-1900'' (New York, 1998), 83, .