Michael Hahn
Encyclopedia
George Michael Hahn was the 19th Governor of Louisiana, Congressman, United States Senator during Reconstruction and after.
, Germany
and immigrated with his mother and four siblings to New York
and then to Texas
. The family arrived in New Orleans in 1840, when Hahn was 10 years old. The following year his mother died of yellow fever
. Hahn graduated from City High School, and in 1849, began reading law
under Christian Roselius
, a prominent Whig
attorney and later Attorney General of Louisiana.
) and the following year he was elected to the city school board at the age of 22; he ran the school system as its director. He joined the Democratic party faction led by Pierre Soulé
and, in the Presidential Election of 1856, Hahn supported Stephen Douglas over President James Buchanan
because of Hahn's philosophical opposition to slavery
and secession
.
Hahn became a vocal activist in 1860 against the prevailing Southern view and delivered a pro-Union speech in Lafayette Square
. He would avoid taking an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy
. An adherent of the Union
, Hahn became the U. S. Representative from the Louisiana's 2nd congressional district
in 1862. Hahn was one of two Louisiana Representatives seated in the 37th Congress which adjourned on 1863 March 4. Eventually, Hahn advised that there should be no more representation from Louisiana until it was reconstructed. During his time in Washington, Hahn met and befriended President Abraham Lincoln
.
(responsible, among other things, for civil order in occupied Louisiana) called state elections and convened a constitutional convention. Benjamin Franklin Flanders and Thomas Jefferson Durant, prominent and radical Unionists, opposed the moderate plan called for by General Banks. Hahn purchased a pro-slavery newspaper, the New Orleans True Delta and converted it to moderate Unionism supporting Banks' plan. Hahn also ran for Governor as a moderate Republican and won the election with 54% or 11,411 votes. J. Q. A. Fellows, a conservative received 26% or 2,996 votes and Benjamin Franklin Flanders, the radical Republican received 20% or 2,232 votes.
On March 4, 1864, Hahn was inaugurated as Governor of Union-held Louisiana in an elaborate ceremony paid for by General Banks. In his term, Hahn tried to give vote to blacks, but was only able to adopt the 15th Amendment. Hahn's Administration made serious attempts at ensuring enfranchisement of black Louisianans and laid the foundation for a black school system and began an aborted Reconstruction in Louisiana. Governor Hahn played a leading role in the state constitutional convention of 1864, but he was opposed by Major General
Stephen A. Hurlbut
who replaced Banks as commander of the Department of the Gulf. General Hurlburt refused to recognize the civil government of Hahn, and so, Hahn ran for and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1865. On March 3, 1865, Governor Hahn resigned and his Lieutenant Governor James Madison Wells
succeeded him.
Hahn subsequently became Editor and manager of the New Orleans Republican newspaper, and in 1872 he moved to a plantation in St. Charles Parish and established the village of Hahnville
where he published the St. Charles Herald.
From 1871-1878 Hahn served in the state legislature. There he served as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and Speaker of the House
. He was appointed Superintendent of the U. S. Mint in 1878, serving until January 1879. At that point, Hahn was appointed Judge
of the 26th Judicial District which included Saint John the Baptist, Saint Charles and Jefferson parishes. In the 1880 elections, Hahn established and edited the New Orleans Ledger to promote Republican candidates, and in 1884 Hahn was elected to Congress as the Republican candidate for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district
—a race which he won by 1,300 votes. Finally serving as a federal legislator from Louisiana, Hahn died on 1886 March 15 in his room at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC, with a ruptured vessel near his heart. He was buried in New Orleans' Metairie Cemetery
; he died poor and unmarried.
Early life
Hahn was born in Klingenmünster, Rhineland-PalatinateRhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and immigrated with his mother and four siblings to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and then to Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. The family arrived in New Orleans in 1840, when Hahn was 10 years old. The following year his mother died of yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
. Hahn graduated from City High School, and in 1849, began reading law
Reading law
Reading law is the method by which persons in common law countries, particularly the United States, entered the legal profession before the advent of law schools. This usage specifically refers to a means of entering the profession . A small number of U.S...
under Christian Roselius
Christian Roselius
Christian Roselius was a Louisiana lawyer.-Biography:His early education was limited to the elementary schooling. In July 1820, he left Germany on board the bark “Jupiter” for New Orleans, having secured his passage by an indenture. He was then employed for several years in a printing office...
, a prominent 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...
attorney and later Attorney General of Louisiana.
Political career
In 1851, Hahn graduated from the University of Louisiana (Tulane UniversityTulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
) and the following year he was elected to the city school board at the age of 22; he ran the school system as its director. He joined the Democratic party faction led by Pierre Soulé
Pierre Soulé
Pierre Soulé was a U.S. politician and diplomat from Louisiana during the mid-19th century. He is best known for his role in writing the Ostend Manifesto, which was written in 1854 as part of an attempt to annex Cuba to the United States...
and, in the Presidential Election of 1856, Hahn supported Stephen Douglas over President James Buchanan
James Buchanan
James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
because of Hahn's philosophical opposition to slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
and secession
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
.
Hahn became a vocal activist in 1860 against the prevailing Southern view and delivered a pro-Union speech in Lafayette Square
Lafayette Square
Lafayette Square may refer to a place in the United States:*Lafayette Square, Los Angeles, California, a neighborhood in the mid-city section of L.A.*Lafayette Square, New Orleans, Louisiana, in the Central Business District*Lafayette Square, St...
. He would avoid taking an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
. An adherent of the Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
, Hahn became the U. S. Representative from the Louisiana's 2nd congressional district
Louisiana's 2nd congressional district
Louisiana's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The district contains nearly all of the city of New Orleans , and some of its suburbs, including the West Bank portion of Jefferson Parish and South South Kenner.The district is currently represented...
in 1862. Hahn was one of two Louisiana Representatives seated in the 37th Congress which adjourned on 1863 March 4. Eventually, Hahn advised that there should be no more representation from Louisiana until it was reconstructed. During his time in Washington, Hahn met and befriended 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...
.
Term as Governor
In 1864, with almost all of Louisiana under federal occupation, General Banks, the Union Military Commander of the Union's Department of the GulfArmy of the Gulf
The Army of the Gulf was a Union army that served in the general area of the Gulf states controlled by Union forces. It mainly saw action in Louisiana and Alabama.-History:...
(responsible, among other things, for civil order in occupied Louisiana) called state elections and convened a constitutional convention. Benjamin Franklin Flanders and Thomas Jefferson Durant, prominent and radical Unionists, opposed the moderate plan called for by General Banks. Hahn purchased a pro-slavery newspaper, the New Orleans True Delta and converted it to moderate Unionism supporting Banks' plan. Hahn also ran for Governor as a moderate Republican and won the election with 54% or 11,411 votes. J. Q. A. Fellows, a conservative received 26% or 2,996 votes and Benjamin Franklin Flanders, the radical Republican received 20% or 2,232 votes.
On March 4, 1864, Hahn was inaugurated as Governor of Union-held Louisiana in an elaborate ceremony paid for by General Banks. In his term, Hahn tried to give vote to blacks, but was only able to adopt the 15th Amendment. Hahn's Administration made serious attempts at ensuring enfranchisement of black Louisianans and laid the foundation for a black school system and began an aborted Reconstruction in Louisiana. Governor Hahn played a leading role in the state constitutional convention of 1864, but he was opposed by Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Stephen A. Hurlbut
Stephen A. Hurlbut
Stephen Augustus Hurlbut , was a politician, diplomat, and commander of the U.S. Army of the Gulf in the American Civil War.-Biography:...
who replaced Banks as commander of the Department of the Gulf. General Hurlburt refused to recognize the civil government of Hahn, and so, Hahn ran for and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1865. On March 3, 1865, Governor Hahn resigned and his Lieutenant Governor James Madison Wells
James Madison Wells
James Madison Wells was elected the 20th Governor of Louisiana during Reconstruction.-Early life:Born near Alexandria, Louisiana, on January 8, 1808, Wells' father was Samuel Levi Wells, II, a member of the constitutional convention in 1811. His mother was the former Dorcas Huie. A brother, Thomas...
succeeded him.
Political editor and congressman
After President Lincoln was assassinated in April, 1865, and Congress refused to seat any Representatives or Senators from the South until a reconstruction plan could be carried out. So, Senator-elect Hahn returned to New Orleans and allied himself with radical Republicans calling for a Convention to revise the Constitution of 1864 to include black suffrage. This led to his almost being killed on July 30, 1866 during a New Orleans Police riot.Hahn subsequently became Editor and manager of the New Orleans Republican newspaper, and in 1872 he moved to a plantation in St. Charles Parish and established the village of Hahnville
Hahnville, Louisiana
Hahnville is a census-designated place in and the parish seat of St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,792 at the 2000 census...
where he published the St. Charles Herald.
From 1871-1878 Hahn served in the state legislature. There he served as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and Speaker of the House
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...
. He was appointed Superintendent of the U. S. Mint in 1878, serving until January 1879. At that point, Hahn was appointed Judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
of the 26th Judicial District which included Saint John the Baptist, Saint Charles and Jefferson parishes. In the 1880 elections, Hahn established and edited the New Orleans Ledger to promote Republican candidates, and in 1884 Hahn was elected to Congress as the Republican candidate for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district
Louisiana's 2nd congressional district
Louisiana's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The district contains nearly all of the city of New Orleans , and some of its suburbs, including the West Bank portion of Jefferson Parish and South South Kenner.The district is currently represented...
—a race which he won by 1,300 votes. Finally serving as a federal legislator from Louisiana, Hahn died on 1886 March 15 in his room at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC, with a ruptured vessel near his heart. He was buried in New Orleans' Metairie Cemetery
Metairie Cemetery
Metairie Cemetery is a cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The name has caused some people to mistakenly presume that the cemetery is located in Metairie, Louisiana, but it is located within the New Orleans city limits, on Metairie Road .-History:This site was previously a horse...
; he died poor and unmarried.
External links
- State of Louisiana - Biography
- Cemetery Memorial by La-Cemeteries