Albert Gallatin Riddle was a U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

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Born in Monson, Massachusetts

Monson, Massachusetts

Monson is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,560 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.The village of Monson Center lies at the center of the town....

, Riddle moved with his parents to Newbury, in the Western Reserve of Ohio, in 1817. He completed preparatory studies, and then studied law. He was admitted to the bar

Admission to the bar in the United States

In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...

 in 1840 and began practice in Geauga County

Geauga County, Ohio

Geauga County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 93,389. It is named for a Native American word meaning "raccoon". The county seat is Chardon...

, serving as prosecuting attorney of that county 1840-1846. He served as member of the Ohio House of Representatives

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....

 1848-1850, and in 1848 called the first Free Soil convention in Ohio.

Riddle moved to Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

, in 1850. He was elected prosecuting attorney in 1856, and in 1859 he defended the Oberlin slave rescuers. He served as a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 in the Thirty-seventh Congress

37th United States Congress

The Thirty-seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1861 to March 4, 1863, during the first two...

 (March 4, 1861-March 3, 1863), making speeches in favor of arming slaves, the first on this subject that were delivered in Congress, and others on emancipation in the District of Columbia and in vindication of President Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1862.

After his term in Congress, Riddle served as consul

Consul (representative)

The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...

 at Matanzas, Cuba, in 1863 and 1864. He then returned to Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, and again engaged in the practice of law. He was retained by the State Department

United States Department of State

The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...

 to aid in the prosecution of John H. Surratt as one of the accomplices in the murder of President Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

. He also served as law officer of the District of Columbia 1877-1889. He was in charge of the law department at Howard University

Howard University

Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...

 for several years after its establishment.

Riddle died in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, May 16, 1902. He was interred in Rock Creek Cemetery

Rock Creek Cemetery

Rock Creek Cemetery — also Rock Creek Church Yard and Cemetery — is an cemetery with a natural rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, off Hawaii Avenue, NE in Washington, D.C.'s Michigan Park neighborhood, near Washington's Petworth neighborhood...

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Works

• Students and Lawyers, lectures (Washington, 1873)
• Hart Ridgely, a Story of Northern Ohio (Boston, 1873)
• The Portrait, a Romance of Cuyahoga Valley (1874)
• Alice Brand, a Tale of the Capitol (New York, 1875)
• Life, Character, and Public Services of James A. Garfield (Cleveland, 1880)
• The House of Ross (Boston, 1881)
• Castle Gregory (Cleveland, 1882)
• Hart and his Bear (Washington, 1883)
• The Sugar-Makers of the West Woods (Cleveland, 1885)
• The Hunter of the Chagrin (1882)
• Mark Loan, a Tale of the Western Reserve (1883)
• Old Newberry and the Pioneers (1884)
• Speeches and Arguments (Washington, 1886)
• Life of Benjamin F. Wade (Cleveland, 1886)
• Recollections of War Times, 1860-65

Sources