Schuyler colfax biography of abraham

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Colfax was instrumental in many political achievements, including the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States. Around 1978, it was removed from display due to structural damage, a common and non-preventable issue with silks from the Victorian Era. In 1996, the gown was restored by Harold Mailand of Textile Conservation Services, Indianapolis.

Also on view is a gavel used in 1862 to call to order the first Confederate Congress in Richmond, Virginia.

Colfax remained in the U.S. Congress until 1869, serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1866. Colfax had little formal education, having left school as a young boy to help support the family. Vice President Colfax did not escape the scandals that engulfed the Grant administration. Following his mother’s remarriage, Colfax moved with his family to New Carlisle, Indiana in 1836.

The couple had no children, and she died in 1863.

In 1845, Colfax and a friend scraped together enough money to buy a local newspaper. It will be on view permanently in Voyages Gallery.

Schuyler Colfax is undoubtedly the most notable political figure in the history of the St. Joseph River Valley. To commemorate the 200th anniversary of his birth, The History Museum is opening the exhibit Colfax: Speaker for Freedom.

After Andrew Johnson became President, Colfax was a member of the Radical Republicans who opposed the President's moderate policies for reintegrating the South into the Union. The next election, he ran as a Republican. The pair easily won the election. In fact, Colfax met with Lincoln to discuss Reconstruction just hours before the President was assassinated.

It involved railroad companies overcharging millions of dollars for government contracts and the company's directors bribing various government officials with company shares. His legacy lives on through the dozens of counties, cities, and streets named in his honor across the U.S.

Showcased in Colfax: Speaker for Freedom is the chair used by Schuyler Colfax when he was Speaker of the House during Lincoln’s administration. When Colfax left office, members of Congress made a gift of the chair to him.

Leaving public life, he began a lucrative career as a public speaker. The project was underwritten by two anonymous donors, friends of The History Museum. As the election of 1868 approached, Colfax made it clear that he wanted to be the vice presidential candidate for the Republicans to run with General Ulysses S. Grant who was the presidential candidate.

Following the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, Colfax adopted an anti-Nebraska and pro-Know-Nothing position, and won election to the U.S. House of Representatives that year as a member of the People’s Party, a precursor to the Republican Party.

During the Civil War, he recruited military regiments in Indiana and worked to marshal support for President Abraham Lincoln and his policies. Although he was never convicted of any wrongdoing, he was not cleared either, and his reputation suffered. He also supported Congress's efforts to impeach Johnson although the Senate did not have enough votes to convict the President.

An ardent abolitionist, he is best known for his roles as Speaker of the House under President Abraham Lincoln and vice president under President Ulysses S. Grant. During the lame-duck session of Congress in 1872, he became caught up in the Credit Mobilier Scandal.