George P. Fisher - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

George Purnell Fisher (October 13, 1817 – February 10, 1899) was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party and later the Republican Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly, as Attorney General of Delaware, as Secretary of State of Delaware, as U. S. Representative from Delaware, and as a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware

United States District Court for the District of Delaware

The United States District Court for the District of Delaware is the Federal district court having jurisdiction over the entire state of Delaware. The Court sits in Wilmington...

Early life and family

Born in Milford, Delaware, Fisher attended the public schools of Kent County and Mount St. Mary's College

Mount St. Mary's College

Mount St. Mary's College is a private, independent, Catholic liberal arts college, primarily for women, in Los Angeles, California. The college was founded in 1925 by the Sisters of St...

in Emmitsburg, Maryland

Emmitsburg, Maryland

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 2,290 people, 811 households, and 553 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,992.9 people per square mile . There were 862 housing units at an average density of 750.2 per square mile...

. He graduated from Dickinson College

Dickinson College

Dickinson College is a private, residential liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Originally established as a Grammar School in 1773, Dickinson was chartered September 9, 1783, five days after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, making it the first college to be founded in the newly...

in 1838. He then read law, was admitted to the Delaware Bar in 1841, and commenced practice in Dover.

Professional and political career

Fisher served as a clerk in the Delaware State Senate in 1843 before he was an elected to the Delaware House of Representatives in 1843 and 1844. In 1846 he was appointed the Secretary of State of Delaware, holding such office until 1847. In 1846, he also became an Aide-de-Camp to Major General Nathaniel Young, Commander of the Delaware Militia. In 1849 he was working in Washington with William Hunter

William Hunter (Asst. Sec. of State)

William Hunter, Jr. was a politician and diplomat from Rhode Island. He was a confidential clerk to Secretary of State John Clayton in the United States Department of State from 1849 to 1850, serving with George P. Fisher. He had served as acting Secretary of State on three occasions, once in...

, as a confidential clerk to Secretary John M. Clayton

John M. Clayton

John Middleton Clayton was an American lawyer and politician from Delaware. He was a member of the Whig Party who served in the Delaware General Assembly, and as U.S. Senator from Delaware and U.S. Secretary of State....

in the U.S. Department of State. At this time Fisher was appointed by President Zachary Taylor

Zachary Taylor

Zachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States and an American military leader. Initially uninterested in politics, Taylor nonetheless ran as a Whig in the 1848 presidential election, defeating Lewis Cass...

to be a commissioner to adjudicate claims against Brazil

Foreign relations of Brazil

The Ministry of External Relations is responsible for managing the foreign relations of Brazil. Brazil is a significant political and economic power in Latin America and a key player on the world stage...

, performing this from 1850 to 1852, when he became the private secretary of President Millard Fillmore

Millard Fillmore

Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States and the last member of the Whig Party to hold the office of president...

. From 1855 until 1860 he served as Delaware Attorney General.

With the coming of the Civil War Fisher was elected as a Unionist to the 37th Congress, serving from March 4, 1861 to March 3, 1863. The Unionist were Delaware's version of Republicans and Fisher ran for the 38th Congress as a Republican in 1862 and lost, thereafter briefly serving as a Colonel in the First Delaware Cavalry, in 1863.

Consequently Fisher was nominated by 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...

on March 10, 1863, to a new seat on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia

United States District Court for the District of Columbia

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia is a federal district court. Appeals from the District are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a...

created by 12 Stat. 762. He was confirmed by the United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

on March 11, 1863, and received his commission the same day. Fisher served in that capacity until his resignation on May 1, 1870 when appointed district attorney

District attorney

In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...

for the District of Columbia, serving until 1875.

Finally he returned to Dover and was appointed by President Benjamin Harrison on May 31, 1889 to be the First Auditor of the Treasury Department, in which capacity he served until March 23, 1893.

Death and legacy

He 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....

and was initially buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington. Later he was reburied in the Old Methodist or Whatcoat Cemetery at Dover, Delaware.

Almanac

Elections are held the first Tuesday after November 1st. Members of the General Assembly took office the first Tuesday of January. State Senators have a four year term and State Representatives have a two year term. U.S. Representatives took office March 4th and also have a two year term.

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
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|State Senate

Delaware Senate

The Delaware Senate is the upper house of the Delaware General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Delaware. It is composed of 21 Senators, each of whom is elected to a four-year term, except when reapportionment occurs, at which time Senators may be elected to a two-year term....

|Legislature

Legislature

A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...

|Dover

Dover, Delaware

The city of Dover is the capital and second largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, and the principal city of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County. It is located on the St. Jones River in the Delaware...

Delaware Senate

|Legislature

Legislature

|Dover

Dover, Delaware

Secretary of State of Delaware

The Secretary of State of Delaware is the head of the Department of State of the U.S. state of Delaware. The Department is in charge of a wide variety of public and governmental services, and is divided into the following divisions:* * * * *...

|Executive

Executive (government)

Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...

| Dover

Dover, Delaware

| 1846
| 1849
| Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

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| |Attorney General

Delaware Attorney General

The Attorney General of Delaware is a constitutional officer of the U.S. state of Delaware, and is the chief law officer and the head of the State Department of Justice.-Description of the office:...

|Executive

Executive (government)

| Dover

Dover, Delaware

| 1855
| 1860
| Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

|-
| 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...

| Legislature

Legislature

| Washington

Washington, D.C.

Judiciary

The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...

| Washington

Washington, D.C.

Judiciary

The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...

| Washington

Washington, D.C.

| 1870
| 1875
| District of Columbia

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
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!colspan=7 style="background: #ccccff;" |Delaware General Assembly service
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! Chamber
! Majority
! Governor
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|1843
|62nd

Delaware General Assembly

The Delaware General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Delaware Senate with 21 Senators and the Delaware House of Representatives with 41 Representatives...

|State Senate

Delaware Senate

|Whig

Whig Party (United States)

The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...

|William B. Cooper

William B. Cooper

William Barkley Cooper was an American farmer and politician from Laurel, in Sussex County, Delaware. He was a member of the Federalist Party, then later the Whig Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and as Governor of Delaware.-Early life and family:Cooper was born in Laurel,...

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|Sussex at-large

Sussex County, Delaware

Sussex County is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of Delaware. As of 2010 the population was 197,145, an increase of 25.9% over the previous decade. The county seat is Georgetown. The Seaford Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Sussex County.Sussex County is...

|-
|1845
|63rd

Delaware General Assembly

|State Senate

Delaware Senate

|Whig

Whig Party (United States)

|Thomas Stockton

Thomas Stockton

Thomas Stockton was an American soldier and politician from New Castle, in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a veteran of the War of 1812, and a member of the Whig Party, who served as Governor of Delaware....

Joseph Maull

Dr. Joseph Maull was an American physician and politician from Lewes, in Sussex County, Delaware. He was a veteran of the War of 1812, and a member of the Federalist Party, then later the Whig Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and as Governor of Delaware.-Early life and...

William Temple

William Temple (governor)

William Temple was an American merchant and politician from Smyrna, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Whig Party, and later the Democratic Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly, as Governor of Delaware, and as U.S...

|
|Sussex at-large

Sussex County, Delaware

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
!colspan=8 style="background: #ccccff;" |United States Congressional service
|-
! Dates
! Congress
! Chamber
! Majority
! President
! Committees
! Class/District
|-
|1861-1862
|37th

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...

|U.S. House

United States House of Representatives

|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...

|Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

|
|at-large

Delaware's At-large congressional district

Delaware's At-large congressional district is a congressional district that includes the entire U.S. state of Delaware.It is currently represented by Democrat John C. Carney, Jr., the former Lieutenant Governor of Delaware.-Voting:-History:...

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
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!colspan=12 style="background: #ccccff;" |Election results
|-
|Year
|Office
|
|Subject
|Party
|votes
|%
|
|Opponent
|Party
|votes
|%
|-
| 1860
|U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

Republican Party (United States)

| | 7,732
| | 48%
|
| | Benjamin T. Biggs

Benjamin T. Biggs

Benjamin Thomas Biggs was an American farmer and politician from Middletown, in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a veteran of the Mexican-American War and a member of the Democratic Party, who served as U.S...

| | Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

| | 7,485
| | 47%
|-
| 1862
|U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

Republican Party (United States)

| | 8,014
| | 50%
|
| | William Temple

William Temple (governor)

| | Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

| | 8,051
| | 50%

External links

Places with more information

Delaware Historical Society
Delaware Historical Society
The Delaware Historical Society began in 1864 as an effort to preserve documents from the Civil War. Since then, it has expanded into a state-wide historical institution with several venues and a major museum in Wilmington and the historic Read House & Gardens in New Castle.The society...

; website; 505 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801; (302) 655-7161
University of Delaware
University of Delaware
The university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...

; Library website; 181 South College Avenue, Newark, Delaware 19717; (302) 831-2965

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.