John Brough
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John Brough (; rhymes with "huff") (September 17, 1811 – August 29, 1865) was a War Democrat politician from
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
. He served as the 26th
governor of Ohio A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...
during the final years of 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 ...
, dying in office of
gangrene Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the ga ...
shortly after the war concluded.


Early life and career

Born in
Marietta, Ohio Marietta is a city in Washington County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in Appalachian Ohio, southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum River, Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia ...
, to an English immigrant and a Pennsylvania-born mother, Brough was orphaned at the age of 11. To support himself, he became a printer's apprentice, and later received three years of part-time education at
Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...
, where he worked part-time as a reporter for the ''Athens Mirror''. He rose to become a newspaper publisher in Marietta and then in Lancaster, where he and his brother Charles purchased the ''Ohio Eagle'', a paper that espoused the views of the Democratic Party. Brough served two years as Clerk of the
Ohio Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of t ...
(where he also served as the capital correspondent for his newspaper, as well as the ''Ohio Statesman''). He was elected as a Democrat to 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 ...
in 1837, representing the Fairfield- Hocking district, and served from 1838 to 1839, chairing the Committee on Banks and Currency. He then took office as State Auditor, serving until 1845, when the Whigs swept most of the state's Democrats out of office in the Election of 1844. He was a trustee of
Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...
from 1840 to 1843. In 1841, he and his brother bought the ''Cincinnati Advertiser'' and renamed it the ''
Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, altho ...
''. Brough then moved to
Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
, where he entered the railroad business and became President of the Madison and Indianapolis Railway in 1848. He later presided over the Bellefontaine and Indiana Railway. In
Madison, Indiana Madison is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River. As of the 2010 United States Census its population was 11,967. Over 55,000 people live within of downtown Madison. Madison is the large ...
, he was remembered for leading the railroad through a period in which it made Madison the leading pork packing city in the nation, but the line then fell prey to competition. His attempt to combat competing lines was the construction of two tunnels as part of an effort to avoid a steep incline at Madison. The company spent more than $300,000 (~$ in ) on construction during two years, before the effort was stopped in 1855. The project was known locally as "Brough's Folly" and he left in 1853 when the Madison line underwent a short-lived merger with another railroad company. Brough was a very large and corpulent man, as well as being a hard worker. The railroad company named one of its engines "John Brough" in his honor When it arrived in Madison on May 10, 1850, the ''Madison Courier'' of May 11 made the following comment that was printed in the ''
Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...
'' of June 1, 1850. "We are told this engine is called the John Brough on account of its great weight and for the great amount of business it is capable of doing."


Governor of Ohio

Ohio Unionists dissatisfied with the leadership of Ohio Governor David Tod turned to Brough after he made a strongly pro-Union speech in his hometown of Marietta on June 10, 1863. He was elected to the governorship that fall on the Union Party ticket, partly due to his stronger support than Tod of the anti-slavery direction that the Northern war effort was taking. Brough is the last Ohio governor to date who was neither a Democrat nor a Republican. Brough defeated Copperhead leader
Clement Vallandigham Clement Laird Vallandigham ( ; July 29, 1820 – June 17, 1871) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the leader of the Copperhead (politics), Copperhead faction of Opposition to the American Civil War, anti-war History of the Unit ...
in the general election. This prompted President
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 ...
to wire Brough, "Glory to God in the Highest. Ohio has saved the Nation." Brough took office in January 1864. Ohio historian Walter Havighurst described Brough as being "a big bull of a man with driving energy," and Richard H. Abbott wrote that he "had a reputation for rough and ready politics with a temperament to match... e wasa blunt, outspoken, rude man who loved to chew tobacco nd thuspresented quite a contrast with his two handsome and dignified predecessors, William Dennison and David Tod." As governor, Brough strongly supported the Lincoln Administration's war efforts and was key to persuading other Midwestern governors to raise 100-day regiments in early 1864 to release more seasoned troops for duty in Gen.
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...
's spring campaign. Ohio contributed more than 34,000 troops, and was the only one of the five participating states (the others were
Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
,
Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
and
Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
) to exceed its quota. Brough supported Lincoln's reelection in 1864, despite the machinations of Ohio's favorite son Salmon P. Chase, and worked tirelessly to support the state's soldiers in the field. When Chase resigned as
Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
, Brough was offered the position but declined it to remain as governor. With the conclusion of the war in 1865, the Union Party dissolved, and the now-dominant Republicans looked elsewhere for a candidate. On June 15, Brough announced that he would not seek the gubernatorial nomination again but would not decline it if offered; it was not. Later that summer, Brough stumbled in the State House yard, bruising his hand and badly spraining his ankle. Using a cane caused inflammation over time and gangrene eventually set in. 200px, Brough's sisters Mary and Jane, Brough, Caroline - his second wife, circa 1860. Abbott wrote that Brough "had given his full efforts to serving his state... nd did sowith energy and ability." Historian Richard C. Knopf wrote, "Whatever may be said of Brough's partisanship and his lack of personal dignity, one must assess in his favor the qualities of integrity, perseverance, and public spiritedness."


Personal life and death

Brough was twice married and had seven children. In 1832, Brough married Achsah P. Pruden of Athens. She had two children. She died September 8, 1838 at Lancaster. Brough married Caroline A. Nelson, of Columbus, at Lewistown, Pennsylvania in 1843. She had five children. John Brough died in office on August 29, 1865, 19 days short of his 54th birthday. He was buried at Woodland Cemetery in Cleveland. Brough is honored with a full-size bronze depiction inside the Cuyahoga County Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Cleveland, Ohio for his service as governor during the Civil War.


References

General
Ohio Historical Society webpage for Brough


* Bridenstine, Freda L., ''Indiana's First Railroad, Madison and Indianapolis: 1931''. Butler University. * Brough, John, ''A Brief History of the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad from its commencement as a state work, under the internal improvement system of Indiana, its transfer to the present company, completion present condition and prospects''. New York: 1852. Van Norden & Amerman, Printers, No. 60 William Street. * Gibbons, John S., ''Report to the Stockholders of the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad Company, June 1, 1856''. New York: John E. Trow Printer, 377 and 379 Broadway, 1856. * *


Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brough, John 1811 births 1865 deaths 19th-century American railroad executives 19th-century American newspaper editors Governors of Ohio Members of the Ohio House of Representatives Ohio state auditors Politicians from Cleveland Politicians from Cincinnati Ohio Democrats Ohio Unionists Ohio University alumni American people of English descent People of Ohio in the American Civil War Politicians from Marietta, Ohio Deaths from gangrene Ohio University trustees Union (American Civil War) state governors American male journalists 19th-century American male writers Journalists from Ohio Burials at Woodland Cemetery (Cleveland) 19th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly