Hamlin, Hannibal

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{{Infobox_Vice_President
 
{{Infobox_Vice_President
 
| name=Hannibal Hamlin
 
| name=Hannibal Hamlin
Line 10: Line 12:
 
| successor=[[Andrew Johnson]]
 
| successor=[[Andrew Johnson]]
 
| birth_date=August 27, 1809
 
| birth_date=August 27, 1809
| birth_place=[[Paris, Maine]], [[Untied States|USA]]
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| birth_place=Paris, Maine, Untied States
| death_date={{death date and age|1891|07|04|1809|08|27}}
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| death_date= July 4, 1891  
| death_place=[[Bangor, Maine]], [[United States|USA]]
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| death_place=Bangor, Maine, United States
| spouse=[[Ellen Vesta Emery Hamlin]]
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| spouse=Sarah Jane Emery Hamlin (first)        Ellen Emery Hamlin (second)
 
| party=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]], [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
 
| party=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]], [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
 
| president=[[Abraham Lincoln]]
 
| president=[[Abraham Lincoln]]
 
}}
 
}}
  
'''Hannibal Hamlin''' (August 27, 1809 – July 4, 1891) was an [[American politician]] from the [[U.S. state]] of [[Maine]]. Hamlin served in the [[Maine Legislature]], the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]], the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] and as [[Governor of Maine]]. He began his career as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] but later became a member of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]].  He was the first Republican to serve as [[Vice President of the United States]], elected as [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s [[running mate]] in the [[U.S. presidential election, 1860|1860 presidential election]].
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'''Hannibal Hamlin''' (August 27, 1809 – July 4, 1891) was an [[American politician]] from the state of [[Maine]]. Hamlin served in the Maine Legislature, the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]], the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] and as Governor of Maine. He was the first Republican to serve as [[Vice President of the United States]], elected as [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s running mate in the 1860 presidential election.
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{{toc}}
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From the very beginning of his political career he was prominent as an opponent of the extension of slavery; he was a conspicuous supporter of the [[Wilmot Proviso]], and spoke against the [[Compromise of 1850]]. In 1854 he strongly opposed the passage of the [[Kansas-Nebraska Act]], which repealed the [[Missouri Compromise]]. When the Democratic Party endorsed that repeal he withdrew and joined the newly organized Republican Party, causing a national sensation.
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==Early Life==
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[[Image:Younger Hannibal Hamlin.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Hamlin in his younger years.]]
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Hamlin was born on Paris Hill (National Historic District) in Paris, Maine, in Oxford County, a descendant of James Hamlin who had settled in the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] in 1639. He attended the district schools and Hebron Academy there, and later managed his father's farm. For the next few years he worked at several jobs: schoolmaster, cook, woodcutter, surveyor, manager of a weekly [[newspaper]] in Paris, and a compositor at a printer's office. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1833. He began practicing in Hampden, where he lived until 1848.
  
[[Image:Younger Hannibal Hamlin.jpg|thumb|left|230px|Hamlin in his younger years.]]
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==Political Career==
Hamlin was born on Paris Hill (National Historic District) in [[Paris, Maine|Paris]], Maine, in [[Oxford County, Maine|Oxford County]], a descendant of James Hamlin who had settled in the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] in 1639. He attended the district schools and [[Hebron Academy]] there, and later managed his father's [[farm]]. For the next few years he worked at several jobs: schoolmaster, cook, woodcutter, surveyor, manager of a weekly [[newspaper]] in Paris, and a [[compositor]] at a printer's office. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1833. He began practicing in [[Hampden (town), Maine|Hampden]], where he lived until 1848.
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Hamlin's political career began in 1836, when he began a term in the Maine House of Representatives after being elected the year before. He served in the [[Aroostook War]], which took place in 1839. Hamlin left the House in 1841. He served two terms in the [[United States House of Representatives]], from 1843-1847. He was elected to fill a Senate vacancy in 1848 and to a full term in 1851. A [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] at the beginning of his career, Hamlin supported the candidacy of [[Franklin Pierce]] in 1852.
  
Hamlin's political career began in 1836, when he began a term in the [[Maine House of Representatives]] after being elected the year before. He served in the [[Aroostook War]], which took place in 1839. Hamlin left the House in 1841. He served two terms in the [[United States House of Representatives]], from 1843-1847. He was elected to fill a Senate vacancy in 1848 and to a full term in 1851. A [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] at the beginning of his career, Hamlin supported the candidacy of [[Franklin Pierce]] in 1852.
+
Hamlin opposed [[slavery]], saying it was [[morality|morally]] wrong. He was unable to continue as a member Democratic Party due their support of the Kansas-Nebraska Act which repealed the Missouri Compromise. On June 12, 1856, he withdrew from the Democratic Party and became a Republican.
  
From the very beginning of his service in Congress he was prominent as an opponent of the extension of slavery; he was a conspicuous supporter of the [[Wilmot Proviso]], and spoke against the [[Compromise Measures of 1850]].  In 1854 he strongly opposed the passage of the [[Kansas-Nebraska Bill]], which repealed the [[Missouri Compromise]]. After the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] endorsed that repeal at the [[Cincinnati Convention]] two years later, on June 12, 1856 he withdrew from the Democratic Party and joined the newly organized [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], causing a national sensation.  
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The [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] nominated him for Governor of Maine in the same year, and having carried the election by a large majority he was inaugurated in this office on the January 8, 1857. In the latter part of February, however, he resigned the governorship, and was again a member of the Senate from 1857 to January 1861.
  
The [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] nominated him for [[Governor of Maine]] in the same year, and having carried the election by a large majority he was inaugurated in this office on the January 8, 1857. In the latter part of February, however, he resigned the governorship, and was again a member of the Senate from 1857 to January 1861.
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[[Image:HHamlin.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Hamlin in his elder years.]]
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He was chosen for the second place on the winning Republican ticket in 1860. While Vice President he was not necessarily one of the chief advisers to [[President of the United States|President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]], although he urged both the [[Emancipation Proclamation]] and the arming of [[African Americans]]. He strongly supported [[Joseph Hooker]]'s appointment as commander of the [[Army of The Potomac]], which was a dismal failure. It is believed that this may have been among the decisions that along with his identification with the [[Radical Republican]]s caused him to be dropped from the Republican presidential ticket in 1864. Lincoln himself left behind no indication or record revealing the reason he switched his Vice-President. He chose [[Andrew Johnson]], who was a member of the [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic Party]] and a southerner. It is believed Johnson was viewed by the Republican Party as someone who could help win southern support bu he was not viewed as someone who would help carry the reconstruction of the nation forward.<ref>Robert C. Kennedy. HarpWeek. [http://www.impeach-andrewjohnson.com/11BiographiesKeyIndividuals/AndrewJohnson.htm The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson] Retrieved October 19, 2007.</ref>
  
[[Image:HHamlin.jpg|thumb|left|230px|Hamlin in his elder years.]]
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Some believe that Hamlin was dropped from the ticket in 1864 because he cast a tie breaking vote in the Senate as Vice President—against the Lincoln Administration—on a bill intended to send black slaves in the District of Columbia back to Africa as a partial means to resolve the slavery issue. Hamlin was isolated as Vice President, was not a part of the Kitchen Cabinet, and did not object to Johnson's substitution on the ticket. Hamlin preferred to be a full voting member of the Senate anyway.
He was chosen for the second place on the winning Republican ticket in 1860.  While Vice President he was not necessarily one of the chief advisers to [[President of the United States|President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]], although he urged both the [[Emancipation Proclamation]] and the arming of [[African Americans]].  He strongly supported Joseph Hooker's appointment as commander of the Army of The Potomac, which was a dismal failure.  It is believed that this was among the decisions that along with his identification with the [[Radical Republican]]s caused him to be dropped from the ticket in 1864. Lincoln left no record of why he was switching his Vice-President.  He chose [[Andrew Johnson]], who was a member of the [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic Party]] and a [[U.S. Southern states|southerner]].  
 
  
Hamlin served in the Senate from 1869 to 1881. In June 1881, President [[James Garfield]] nominated him for the post of [[United States Ambassador to Spain|ambassador to Spain]], in which capacity he served from 1881 to 1882. After he completed the posting he retired from public life.
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==Later Life==
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Hamlin served in the Senate from 1869 to 1881. In June 1881, President [[James Garfield]] nominated him for the post of ambassador to [[Spain]], in which capacity he served from 1881 to 1882. After he completed the posting he retired from public life.
  
He died in [[Bangor, Maine]], on July 4, 1891 and is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery.
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He died in Bangor, [[Maine]], on July 4, 1891, and is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery.
  
He had two sons, Charles Hamlin and Cyrus Hamlin, who served in the Union forces during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. Charles and sister Sarah were present at [[Ford's Theater]] the night of [[Abraham Lincoln#Assassination|Lincoln's assassination]]. His son [[Hannibal Emery Hamlin]] was Maine state [[Attorney General]] from 1905 to 1908. His great-granddaughter [[Sally Hamlin]] was a [[child actor]] who made many [[spoken word]] recordings for the [[Victor Talking Machine Company]] in the early years of the [[20th century]].
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==Family and Memorials==
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Hamlin had six children, four by his first wife, Sarah Jane Emery, and two by his second wife, Ellen Vesta Emery.<ref>[http://www.library.umaine.edu/SpecColl/FindingAids/Hamlinfamilyinventory.htm Hamlin Family Papers] Retrieved October 24, 2007.</ref> Two of his sons, Charles and Cyrus, served in the Union forces during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. Two of his children, Charles and Sarah were present at [[Ford's Theater]] the night of Lincoln's assassination. His son Hannibal Emery Hamlin was Maine state [[Attorney General]] from 1905 to 1908. His great-granddaughter Sally Hamlin was a child actor who made many spoken word recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company in the early years of the twentieth century.
  
 
There are biographies by his grandson Charles E. Hamlin (published 1899, reprinted 1971) and by H. Draper Hunt (published 1969).
 
There are biographies by his grandson Charles E. Hamlin (published 1899, reprinted 1971) and by H. Draper Hunt (published 1969).
  
[[Hamlin County, South Dakota]] is named in his honor, as is [[Hamlin, West Virginia]], the county seat of [[Lincoln County, West Virginia|Lincoln County]]. There are statues in Hamlin's likeness in the [[United States Capitol]] and in [[Bangor, Maine]].
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Hamlin County, South Dakota is named in his honor, as is Hamlin, West Virginia, the county seat of Lincoln County. There are statues in Hamlin's likeness in the [[United States Capitol]] and in Bangor, Maine. The Kings County Museum in Kentville, Nova Scotia, at one time maintained what is believed to be the only exhibit on the subject of Hannibal Hamlin.
 
 
Some believe that Hamlin was dropped from the ticket in 1864 because he cast a tie breaking vote in the Senate as Vice President—against the Lincoln Administration—on a bill intended to send black slaves in the District of Columbia back to Africa as a partial means to resolve the slavery issue.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Hamlin was isolated as Vice President, was not a part of the Kitchen Cabinet, and did not object to Johnson's substitution on the ticket. Hamlin preferred to be a full voting member of the Senate anyway.
 
 
 
The Kings County Museum in Kentville, Nova Scotia, at one time maintained what is believed to be the only exhibit on the subject of Hannibal Hamlin.  
 
 
 
==Sources==
 
*Hamlin, Charles E. ''Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin''. Cambridge, Mass.: 1899. ([http://books.google.com/books?id=icRB4PfYp0EC Google Print edition])
 
  
==External links==
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== Notes ==
{{start box}}
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<references/>
{{U.S. Senator box
 
|state=Maine
 
|class=1
 
|before=[[Wyman B. S. Moor]]
 
|after=[[Amos Nourse]]
 
|alongside=[[James W. Bradbury]], [[William P. Fessenden]]
 
|years=1848&ndash;1857}}
 
{{succession box|title=[[List of Governors of Maine|Governor of Maine]]|before=[[Samuel Wells]]|after=[[Joseph H. Williams]]|years=1857}}
 
{{U.S. Senator box
 
|state=Maine
 
|class=1
 
|before=[[Amos Nourse]]
 
|after=[[Lot M. Morrill]]
 
|alongside=[[William P. Fessenden]]
 
|years=1857&ndash;1861}}
 
{{succession box two to one
 
| title1=[[List of United States Republican Party presidential tickets|Republican Party vice presidential candidate]]
 
| before1=[[William L. Dayton]]
 
| after=[[Andrew Johnson]]<sup>(a)</sup>
 
| years1=[[U.S. presidential election, 1860|1860]] (won)
 
| title2=[[Vice President of the United States]]
 
| before2=[[John C. Breckinridge]]
 
| years2=March 4, 1861 &ndash; March 4, 1865
 
}}
 
{{U.S. Senator box
 
|state=Maine
 
|class=1
 
|before=[[Lot M. Morrill]]
 
|after=[[Eugene Hale]]
 
|alongside=[[William P. Fessenden]], [[Lot M. Morrill]], [[James G. Blaine]]
 
|years=1869&ndash;1881}}
 
{{succession box
 
| title=[[United States Ambassador to Spain|U.S. Ambassador to Spain]]
 
| before=[[Lucius Fairchild]]
 
| after=[[John W. Foster]]
 
| years=1881–1882
 
}}
 
{{succession footnote| marker=<sup>(a)</sup>| footnote=Lincoln and Johnson ran on the National Union ticket in 1864.}}
 
{{end box}}
 
  
<!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] -->
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==References==
{{Persondata
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* Bartlett, D. W., and Abraham Lincoln. ''Life and public services of Hon. Abraham Lincoln, with a portrait on steel, to which is added a biographical sketch of Hon. Hannibal Hamlin''. Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press, 1969. ISBN 9780836950663
|NAME= Hamlin, Hannibal
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* Hunt, H. Draper. ''Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, Lincoln's first Vice-President''. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1969. ISBN 9780815621423
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
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* Jones, Edward L. ''President Zachary Taylor and Senator Hannibal Hamlin: Union or death. African-American history and heritage series''. Seattle, Wash: E.L. Jones, 1991. ISBN 9780960245888
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=first Republican to serve as [[Vice President of the United States]]
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* Scroggins, Mark. ''Hannibal: the life of Abraham Lincoln's first vice president''. Lanham, Md: University Press of America, 1994. ISBN 9780819194404
|DATE OF BIRTH=August 27, 1809
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* Tally, Steve. ''Bland ambition: from Adams to Quayle—the cranks, criminals, tax cheats, and golfers who made it to vice president''. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992. ISBN 9780156131407
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Paris, Maine]], [[Untied States|USA]]
 
|DATE OF DEATH=July 4, 1891
 
|PLACE OF DEATH=[[Bangor, Maine]], [[United States|USA]]
 
}}
 
  
[[Category:History and biography]]
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==External Links==
[[Category:Biography]]
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All links retrieved July 26, 2017.
[[Category:History of the United States]]
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*[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000121 HAMLIN, Hannibal, (1809 - 1891)]
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*[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0822547.html Hannibal Hamlin]  
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*[http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/hannibal_hamlin.pdf Vice Presidents of the United States]  
  
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[[Category:Biography]]
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[[Category:History]]
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{{credit|125825524}}
 
{{credit|125825524}}

Latest revision as of 16:43, 26 July 2017

Hannibal Hamlin
Hannibal Hamlin


15th Vice President of the United States
In office
March 4, 1861 – March 4, 1865
President Abraham Lincoln
Preceded by John C. Breckinridge
Succeeded by Andrew Johnson

Born August 27, 1809
Paris, Maine, Untied States
Died July 4, 1891
Bangor, Maine, United States
Political party Democrat, Republican
Spouse Sarah Jane Emery Hamlin (first) Ellen Emery Hamlin (second)

Hannibal Hamlin (August 27, 1809 – July 4, 1891) was an American politician from the state of Maine. Hamlin served in the Maine Legislature, the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate and as Governor of Maine. He was the first Republican to serve as Vice President of the United States, elected as Abraham Lincoln's running mate in the 1860 presidential election.

From the very beginning of his political career he was prominent as an opponent of the extension of slavery; he was a conspicuous supporter of the Wilmot Proviso, and spoke against the Compromise of 1850. In 1854 he strongly opposed the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise. When the Democratic Party endorsed that repeal he withdrew and joined the newly organized Republican Party, causing a national sensation.

Early Life

Hamlin in his younger years.

Hamlin was born on Paris Hill (National Historic District) in Paris, Maine, in Oxford County, a descendant of James Hamlin who had settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1639. He attended the district schools and Hebron Academy there, and later managed his father's farm. For the next few years he worked at several jobs: schoolmaster, cook, woodcutter, surveyor, manager of a weekly newspaper in Paris, and a compositor at a printer's office. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1833. He began practicing in Hampden, where he lived until 1848.

Political Career

Hamlin's political career began in 1836, when he began a term in the Maine House of Representatives after being elected the year before. He served in the Aroostook War, which took place in 1839. Hamlin left the House in 1841. He served two terms in the United States House of Representatives, from 1843-1847. He was elected to fill a Senate vacancy in 1848 and to a full term in 1851. A Democrat at the beginning of his career, Hamlin supported the candidacy of Franklin Pierce in 1852.

Hamlin opposed slavery, saying it was morally wrong. He was unable to continue as a member Democratic Party due their support of the Kansas-Nebraska Act which repealed the Missouri Compromise. On June 12, 1856, he withdrew from the Democratic Party and became a Republican.

The Republicans nominated him for Governor of Maine in the same year, and having carried the election by a large majority he was inaugurated in this office on the January 8, 1857. In the latter part of February, however, he resigned the governorship, and was again a member of the Senate from 1857 to January 1861.

Hamlin in his elder years.

He was chosen for the second place on the winning Republican ticket in 1860. While Vice President he was not necessarily one of the chief advisers to President Abraham Lincoln, although he urged both the Emancipation Proclamation and the arming of African Americans. He strongly supported Joseph Hooker's appointment as commander of the Army of The Potomac, which was a dismal failure. It is believed that this may have been among the decisions that along with his identification with the Radical Republicans caused him to be dropped from the Republican presidential ticket in 1864. Lincoln himself left behind no indication or record revealing the reason he switched his Vice-President. He chose Andrew Johnson, who was a member of the Democratic Party and a southerner. It is believed Johnson was viewed by the Republican Party as someone who could help win southern support bu he was not viewed as someone who would help carry the reconstruction of the nation forward.[1]

Some believe that Hamlin was dropped from the ticket in 1864 because he cast a tie breaking vote in the Senate as Vice President—against the Lincoln Administration—on a bill intended to send black slaves in the District of Columbia back to Africa as a partial means to resolve the slavery issue. Hamlin was isolated as Vice President, was not a part of the Kitchen Cabinet, and did not object to Johnson's substitution on the ticket. Hamlin preferred to be a full voting member of the Senate anyway.

Later Life

Hamlin served in the Senate from 1869 to 1881. In June 1881, President James Garfield nominated him for the post of ambassador to Spain, in which capacity he served from 1881 to 1882. After he completed the posting he retired from public life.

He died in Bangor, Maine, on July 4, 1891, and is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery.

Family and Memorials

Hamlin had six children, four by his first wife, Sarah Jane Emery, and two by his second wife, Ellen Vesta Emery.[2] Two of his sons, Charles and Cyrus, served in the Union forces during the Civil War. Two of his children, Charles and Sarah were present at Ford's Theater the night of Lincoln's assassination. His son Hannibal Emery Hamlin was Maine state Attorney General from 1905 to 1908. His great-granddaughter Sally Hamlin was a child actor who made many spoken word recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company in the early years of the twentieth century.

There are biographies by his grandson Charles E. Hamlin (published 1899, reprinted 1971) and by H. Draper Hunt (published 1969).

Hamlin County, South Dakota is named in his honor, as is Hamlin, West Virginia, the county seat of Lincoln County. There are statues in Hamlin's likeness in the United States Capitol and in Bangor, Maine. The Kings County Museum in Kentville, Nova Scotia, at one time maintained what is believed to be the only exhibit on the subject of Hannibal Hamlin.

Notes

  1. Robert C. Kennedy. HarpWeek. The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  2. Hamlin Family Papers Retrieved October 24, 2007.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Bartlett, D. W., and Abraham Lincoln. Life and public services of Hon. Abraham Lincoln, with a portrait on steel, to which is added a biographical sketch of Hon. Hannibal Hamlin. Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press, 1969. ISBN 9780836950663
  • Hunt, H. Draper. Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, Lincoln's first Vice-President. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1969. ISBN 9780815621423
  • Jones, Edward L. President Zachary Taylor and Senator Hannibal Hamlin: Union or death. African-American history and heritage series. Seattle, Wash: E.L. Jones, 1991. ISBN 9780960245888
  • Scroggins, Mark. Hannibal: the life of Abraham Lincoln's first vice president. Lanham, Md: University Press of America, 1994. ISBN 9780819194404
  • Tally, Steve. Bland ambition: from Adams to Quayle—the cranks, criminals, tax cheats, and golfers who made it to vice president. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992. ISBN 9780156131407

External Links

All links retrieved July 26, 2017.

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