Edwin Stanton

Edwin McMasters Stanton (December 19, 1814 – December 24, 1869) was an American lawyer and politician. He served as U.S. Secretary of War under U.S. President Abraham Lincoln during most of the American Civil War. Stanton's management helped organize the massive military resources of the North and guide the Union to victory. However, he was criticized by many Union generals, who perceived Stanton as overcautious and a micromanager.

After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Stanton remained as the secretary of war under the new President, Andrew Johnson, during the first years of the Reconstruction Era. He also organized the manhunt for Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Stanton opposed the lenient policies of Johnson towards the former Confederate States. Johnson's attempt to dismiss him ultimately led to Johnson being impeached by the Radical Republicans in the House of Representatives. Stanton returned to law after he retired as secretary of war. In 1869, he was nominated as an associate justice of the Supreme Court by Johnson's successor, Ulysses S. Grant, but died four days after his nomination was confirmed by the Senate. Stanton remains the only confirmed nominee to accept but die before serving on the Court.

Before the American Revolution, Stanton's paternal ancestors, the Stantons and the Macys, both of whom were Quakers, moved from Massachusetts to North Carolina. In 1774, Stanton's grandfather, Benjamin Stanton, married Abigail Macy. Benjamin died in 1800. That same year, Abigail moved to the Northwest Territory, accompanied by much of her family. Soon, Ohio was admitted to the Union, and Macy proved to be one of the early developers of the new state. She bought a tract of land at Mount Pleasant, Ohio, from the government and settled there. One of her sons, David, became a physician in Steubenville, and married Lucy Norman, the daughter of a Virginia planter. Their marriage was met with the ire of Ohio's Quaker community, as Lucy was a Methodist, and not a Quaker. This forced David Stanton to abandon the Quaker sect.

Edwin McMasters was born to David and Lucy Stanton on December 19, 1814, in Steubenville, Ohio, the first of their four children. His early formal education consisted of a private school and a seminary behind the Stanton residence, known as "Old Academy". At age 10, he was transferred to a school taught by a Presbyterian minister. Stanton later experienced his first asthma attack, a malady that haunted him for life, sometimes to the point of convulsion. Because of his asthma, Stanton was unable to participate in highly physical activities, so he found interest in books and poetry. Stanton regularly attended Methodist church services and Sunday school. At age 13, Stanton became a full member of the Methodist church.

David Stanton's medical practice afforded him and his family a decent living. When David Stanton suddenly died in December 1827 at his residence, the Stanton family was left destitute. Stanton's mother opened a store in the front room of their residence, selling the medical supplies her husband left her, along with books, stationery and groceries. The young Stanton was removed from school and worked at the store of a local bookseller.

Stanton began his college studies at the Episcopal Church-affiliated Kenyon College in 1831. At Kenyon, Stanton was involved in the college's Philomathesian Literary Society. He sat on several of the society's committees and was often a participant in its exercises and debates. Stanton was forced to leave Kenyon just at the end of his third semester for lack of finances. At Kenyon, Stanton's support of President Andrew Jackson's actions during the 1832 Nullification Crisis, a hotly debated topic among the Philomathesians, led him into the Democratic Party. Furthermore, Stanton's conversion to Episcopalianism and his revulsion of the practice of slavery were solidified there. After Kenyon, Stanton worked as a bookseller in Columbus. He had hoped to obtain enough money to complete his final year at Kenyon, but a small salary at the bookstore dashed the notion. Stanton soon returned to Steubenville to pursue studies in law.

Stanton studied law under the tutelage of Daniel Collier in preparation for the bar. He was admitted to practice in 1835 and began work at a prominent law firm in Cadiz, Ohio, under Chauncey Dewey, a well-known attorney. The firm's trial work often fell to Stanton .

At age 18, Stanton met Mary Ann Lamson at Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbus, and they soon were engaged. After buying a home in Cadiz, Stanton went to Columbus, where his betrothed was. Stanton and Lamson had wished to be married at Trinity Episcopal, but his illness rendered this idea moot. Instead, the ceremony was performed at the home of Trinity Episcopal's rector on December 31, 1836. Afterwards, Stanton went to Virginia, where his mother and sisters were, and escorted the women back to Cadiz, where they would live with Stanton and his wife.