Thomas Haines Dudley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Haines_Dudley

Thomas Haines Dudley was consul of the United States of America in Liverpool during the American Civil War. He was instrumental in leading efforts by the Federal Government to prevent British involvement in the war, and in particular in preventing blockade runners from Liverpool, such as the CSS Alabama, from assisting the Confederate war effort.

American Civil War

During the American Civil War (1861–65), consul Dudley made strenuous efforts to prevent ships from Liverpool from breaking the United States Navy blockade of Confederate ports. Great Britain remained officially neutral throughout the war but there were many Confederate sympathizers in Liverpool. The commerce raider CSS Alabama was a screw sloop-of-war built for the Confederate States Navy at Birkenhead in Merseyside in 1862 by John Laird Sons and Company. She was eventually sunk by the USS Kearsarge in 1864.

Soon after his arrival, Dudley emerged as the actual head of Northern intelligence operations in Europe. Having played a key role in the nomination of Abraham Lincoln for president, he was rewarded with the Liverpool appointment. A zealous abolitionist, diplomat, and spymaster, Dudley became an appropriate soldier for the administration and its policies.

http://www.cwbr.com/civilwarbookreview/index.php?q=2502&field=ID&br...

Dudley wished to retire after the war and return to his law practice in New Jersey, but such was his knowledge of Confederate assets in Liverpool that he stayed on as consul, seizing Confederate ships and returning the proceeds of sale to the victorious United States Government. Relations between Britain and the United States were tense after the war, in part because of the role of Liverpool blockade runners and the widespread perception in America that Britain had been sympathetic to the defeated Confederacy. The claims arising out of these disputes, especially the Alabama Claims, would not be settled until the 1871 Treaty of Washington.

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http://www.dvrbs.com/people/camdenpeople-ThomasHDudley.htm

THOMAS H. DUDLEY had a long and interesting career, both in service in Camden and in service of the Federal Government. He was born in Camden on October 9, 1819, the son of Evan and Ann (Haines) Dudley; grandson of Thomas and Martha (Evans) Dudley; and great-grandson of Francis and Rachel (Wilkins) Dudley, who emigrated from the parish of St. Peter, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England, about 1730, and settled in New Jersey.

Thomas H. Dudley was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1845, he was serving as Camden County Clerk when called upon to write a City Charter for Camden. The "Dudley Charter" would serve Camden until 1871. A member of the Whig Party until it dissolved, he became a Republican when that party formed. Thomas Dudley was a delegate to the Republican national convention in Chicago in 1860, and was instrumental in securing the presidential nomination for Abraham Lincoln.

In his own words, Thomas Dudley wrote, "I was appointed Consul for Liverpool by Mr. Lincoln in 1861, and remained there for eleven years, when I resigned and came home. I am a lawyer by profession, and was in the convention that nominated A. Lincoln in 1860."

Thomas Dudley went to Europe when the Civil War broke out, returning in the fall of 1861. He was then appointed as the United States Consul at Liverpool, England. In this capacity he was charged with stemming the flow of military supplies to the Confederacy from ostensibly neutral England. With a force of 100 agents he covered the United Kingdom, often traveling incognito as he was a marked man in certain pro-Confederate quarters.

In 1862 Dudley brought legal action in British courts concerning the steamship Alexandra, being built in a Liverpool shipyard with private funds and intended for the Confederate Navy. The attention attracted in this case gave cause to the British government to somewhat more strictly enforce their own laws regarding neutrality.

Dudley and his agents noted all activity in shipyards in Liverpool ant its environs, and reported such activity to United States naval authorities. Of 324 ships built either to run the blockade of the Confederacy or as commerce raiders, 126 were sunk, in great part to the intelligence reports of Thomas Dudley.

After the war Thomas Dudley returned to America, only to be sent back to Europe to settle the Alabama Claims, where the arbitration decided the extent of British liability for damage done by the U.K.-built commerce-raiders CSS Alabama and CSS Florida during the Civil War. He finally came home in 1872. He was elected a member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in 1886, and was a member of the council in the American Philosophical Society in 1887,1890 and 1893.

Thomas Dudley owned a large estate along Federal Street in what is now East Camden, centered by his mansion and known as Dudley Grange. A small village, known as Dudley, sprang up in the late 1870s and early 1880s within the bounds of Stockton Township.

Thomas H. Dudley was married to Emeline Matlack. There marriage produced three children, a son, Edward in 1849, and daughters Mary H,. and Ella, born in 1851 and 1854 respectively.

Thomas H. Dudley passed away on April 15, 1893. Parts of his estate were sold to real estate developers, who build many residences along Federal Street and Westfield Avenue. The remainder of his estate, lying between those two roads and east of Dudley Street, in which lay his home appears to have went to his son Edward Dudley, who also pursued a career in law. Edward Dudley passed away in 1920. The land and mansion were inherited by Edward Dudley's children who eventually sold them to Victor S. King, who served as Camden's Mayor in the years 1923 through 1927. He sold the land to the city, and it became Dudley Grange Park. The Dudley home was converted into use as a branch of the Camden Free Public Library during the 1920s. Sadly, the home of Thomas Dudley was neglected by city government and allowed to burn in 1980.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=128418184

GEDCOM Note

Local and Family Histories: New England, 1600-1900s "I was appointed Consul for Liverpool by Mr. Lincoln in 1861, and remained there for eleven years, when I resigned and came home. I am a lawyer by profession, and was in the convention that mominated A. Lincoln in 1860."

American Biographical Library The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans Volume 3 D
Dudley, Thomas Underwood page 324 Dudley, Thomas Haines, consul, was born in Camden, N.J., Oct. 9, 1819; son of Evan and Ann (Haines) Dudley; grandson of Thomas and Martha (Evans) Dudley; and great-grandson of Francis and Rachel (Wilkins) Dudley, who emigrated from the parish of St. Peter, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England, about 1730, and settled in New Jersey. He was admitted to the bar and practised in his native place. In 1846 he was married to Emmaline, daughter of Seth Mattack of Camden. In 1860 he was a delegate from the state at large to the Republican national convention. In 1861, while abroad, he was appointed by President Lincoln U.S. consul at Paris to fill a temporary vacancy. Later in the same year he was appointed U.S. consul to Liverpool and held the office, 1861-72. In 1872 he was appointed assistant attorney-general of the United States to settle certain claims against the British government. After his return to the United States he resumed the practice of his profession. He was elected a member of the Historical society of Pennsylvania in 1886, and was a member of the council in the American philosophical society in 1887, 1890 and 1893. See Biographical Sketch by William John Potts (1895). He died at Camden, N.J., April 15, 1893.