Henry B. Anthony, Governor, U.S. Senator

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_B._Anthony

Henry Bowen Anthony (April 1, 1815 – September 2, 1884) was a United States newspaperman and political figure. He served as the editor and later part owner of the Providence Journal and later was the 21st Governor of Rhode Island between 1849 and 1851, as a member of the Whig Party.

Biography

The son of William Anthony and Mary Kennicut Greene, Anthony was born in Rhode Island. He attended Brown University, graduating in 1833 at the age of 18.[3] After his graduation, he went to work as a broker in his brother's cotton products firm, sometimes residing in Savannah, Georgia. He later invested in the firm when his father died in 1845 and made a substantial income. He become editor of the Providence Journal in 1838. In 1840, he was admitted into the partnership, the paper then being published under the name of Knowles, Vose & Anthony until the death of Vose in 1848, when it was continued under the name of Knowles & Anthony until 1 January 1863, when it became Knowles, Anthony & Danielson. He also wrote poetry.

As editor of the Journal, Anthony was a conservative, supporting law and order, property requirements for voting, and restrictions on political power of immigrants. In 1849, and again in 1850, he was elected governor of Rhode Island. As a Whig at the first election he had a majority of 1,556; at the second, fewer than 1,000 votes were cast against him. He declined a third election, and gave himself once more entirely to his editorial work.

In 1855, he traveled in Europe, sending letters with unfavorable observations back to the Journal. On returning, he joined the Know Nothing movement and used the Journal to back its American Party. In Rhode Island, the American Party merged into the Republican Party, and he was a elected to the United States Senate as an “American-Republican.”

Anthony served as a Republican Senator from Rhode Island from March 4, 1859, until his death on September 2, 1884. Initially conciliatory toward the secessionists, he was a strong supporter of Abraham Lincoln's efforts to restore the union during the American Civil War. He was twice the chairman of the committee on printing, his practical knowledge of that subject enabling him to introduce many reforms in the government printing. The Government Printing Office was formed during his tenure. He was at different times a member of the committees on claims, on naval affairs, on mines and mining, and on post offices and post roads. On the trial of Andrew Johnson, he voted for impeachment. During his service in the Senate, he still contributed largely to his paper.

He served as the President pro tempore of the United States Senate from 1869 to 1873 and again briefly in 1875. He gave up that post when he was elected conference chairman in 1875. As chair, Anthony acted much like the later majority leaders, giving committee assignments to members of his party, calling up bills for debate, and often speaking for his party on the issues of the day. He was also the author of the "Anthony Rule," an early attempt to limit debate in the Senate in the days before cloture. Known as the Father of the Senate.

Anthony's funeral, which took place from the First Congregational Church in Providence on 6 September, was the largest funeral ever known in Rhode Island. Anthony bequeathed a portion of his library, known as the “Harris Collection of American Poetry,” to Brown University. It consists of about 6,000 volumes, mostly small books, and many of them exceedingly rare. It was begun in the first half of the 19th century by Albert G. Greene, continued by Caleb Fiske Harris, and, after his death, completed by his kinsman Senator Anthony. See J. C. Stockbridge, Anthony Memorial (1886) for an annotated catalog of the collection, with a biographical sketch of Anthony.

Family

In 1837 he married Sarah Aborn Rhodes (daughter of Christopher Rhodes of Pawtuxet), who died in 1854. They had no children, and he never remarried.

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Henry B. Anthony, United States Senator, was born in Coventry, Rhode Island, April 1, 1815. His ancestors were among the oldest in habitants of that state, their Anglo-Saxon blood and Quaker principles at once indicating their origin and their character. Receiving a classical education, Mr. Anthony was graduated at Brown University in 1833. In 1838 he assumed the editorial charge of "The Providence Journal," and soon gave evidence in its columns of his good sense, his practical energy, and his varied learning, spiced with a refined humor that enlisted the attention of readers. He was a decided, outspoken partisan, yet his editorial articles were free from that spirit of acrimony which so often disfigures American journalism, and he was a fair exponent of the principles of the glorious old Whig party, ever directing the fluctuating current of public opinion into safe channels. A stalwart champion of Rhode Island, of her sons and daughters, of her traditions and her institutions, it was not strange that the young editor became a general favorite in his native State. In 1849 Mr. Anthony was elected Governor of the State of Rhode Island, and he was re-elected in 1850, but he declined being a candidate for a third term. Retiring from the gubernatorial chair he again devoted his whole time to his editorial labors until 1859, when the Republicans of Rhode Island elected him United States Senator, to succeed Hon. Philip Alien, a Democrat. He took his seat in the Senate on the fifth of December, 1859, and has since continuously occupied it, having been successively re-elected in 1863, in 1871, and in 1877. He is now the Pater Senatus. Gov. Anthony's editorial labors qualified him for his senatorial duties. A man may be born a senator as a man may be born a poet, but it is almost as rare an event, yet there can be no better training for the high position than to have successfully conducted for years, as Gov. Anthony had, a leading journal, and to have acquired the art of harmonizing opinionated contributors and ambitious politicians. He was soon valued as an industrious worker on committees which shape legislation, and he has always been a favorite in the diplomatic and home-circles of Washington, wit and learning embellishing his brilliant conversation, while his social virtues give to his life a rare beauty. At the outbreak of the great Rebellion Gov. Anthony took a decided stand in defence of the Union. Although a conservative, and by birth and by education a lover of peace, he faced the secession movement with unflinching firmness, and advocated its unconditional defeat. The sagacity which prompted, the decision which nerved, and the resolutions which supported him are stamped upon the congressional annals of the war for the suppression of the rebellion; and the soldiers and Sailors of Rhode Island will ever cherish their recollections of his patriotic generosity. Gov. Anthony was chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Printing during the eighteen years of Republican ascendency in that body, from 1861 to 1879, during which time great improvements were made, under his careful direction in the execution of the work, while its cost was greatly diminished. He has also been, since 1863, a prominent member of the Committee on Naval Affairs, and he has served on several other committees. Displaying rare abilities as a parliamentarian and as a presiding officer, and deservedly popular among his associates in the Senate, Gov. Anthony was elected in March, 1863, president pro tempore of that body, and was re-elected in March, 1871, serving for four years. Gov. Anthony is not a frequent speaker, but when he does address the Senate he is always listened to with attention. His eloquence is practical and sensible, unadorned with worthless verbal embroidery, yet throughout its solid senatorial sentences there is a classic grace that charms the ear, while his dignified presence, pleasing manner, and pleasant voice aid in gratifying the audience. He has been especially happy in his remarks in the Senate when funereal honors have been paid to deceased Members of Congress whose virtues, public services, and acquirements he has commemorated in undefiled English. These funereal discourses are not merely scholarly productions, but the heartfelt expressions of a generous colleague, vitalized by sympathy, yet not enervated by sentimentality: pearls and golden beads strung upon a black thread. And the crowning characteristic of Gov. Anthony's long public career, as Editor, as Governor, and as Senator, is, that he has invariably regarded with kindly tolerance those who have been his most earnest political opponents, thus carrying out the maxim of the faith of his fathers: " Always treat your enemy of today as if he might become your friend of tomorrow."

The son of William Anthony and Mary Kennicut Greene, Anthony was born in Rhode Island. He attended Brown University, graduating in 1833 at the age of 18. During his tenure as the editor of the Providence Journal, his anti-Catholic editorials whipped up the flames of hatred against the growing Irish and French Canadian communities in Rhode Island. It not be until the 20th century that Catholics would gain acceptance in Rhode Island. Anthony won his election to the governorship on an anti-Catholic platform. He was a strong supporter of Abraham Lincoln as a U.S. Senator during the American Civil War.

Anthony served from 1859 as a Republican Senator from Rhode Island, he served as the President pro tempore of the United States Senate from 1869 to 1873 and again briefly in 1875. He gave up that post when he was elected conference chairman in 1875. As chair, Anthony acted much like the later majority leaders, giving committee assignments to members of his party, calling up bills for debate, and often speaking for his party on the issues of the day. He was also the author of the "Anthony Rule," an early attempt to limit debate in the Senate in the days before cloture. Known as the Father of the Senate.

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Govener and US Senator