Northern Breckinridge Supporters

[Peacock Shah]

One of the political phenomena that has always confused me was that two postbellum Massachusetts Republicans-Benjamin F. Butler and George B. Loring-supported John C. Breckinridge in 1860; other notable Breckinridgites of the North included Senator Joseph Lane of Oregon (his running mate) and Daniel Dickinson of New York.

Are there any other notable Northern supporters of Breckinridge you know of? Did any others follow the perplexing path to post war Republicanism?

 

[TheRockofChickamauga]

Two more Northern Breckinridge supporters I have found were former Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court David S. Terry (who went on to join the CSA Army, remain a Democratic politician in California, and get shot while preparing to stab Associate Justice Stephen J. Field) and President of Dartmouth College Nathan Lord (who died shortly after the end of the war). I also have my suspicions that former NYC mayor Fernando Wood supported him, but I have found nothing conclusive. I had heard about Lane, Dickinson, and Butler, but I haven't heard about George B. Loring until now. Do you have any sources about his support for Breckinridge? He seems to be a useful ATL figure.

(EDIT: It appears that Senator Jesse D. Bright of Indiana, former Attorney General Caleb Cushing of Massachusetts, former representative Thompson Campbell of Illinois, and prominent New York defense attorney James T. Brady all supported Breckinridge).

 

[TheRockofChickamauga]

I just did some more research, and it turns out Loring was the man who nominated John C. Breckinridge at the Southern Democratic Convention, so he is definitely a supporter. Thanks for bringing up this interesting guy!

 

[TheRockofChickamauga]

I'm not sure if you are still looking for more information on this topic, but I just found a ton while looking through a copy of The Emergence of Lincoln (Volume 2) by Allen Nevins, so I'd thought I'd post it here since this thread is still fairly recent. First, one illustration in the book features an advertisement sent out by Breckinridge's Democratic National Committee, and the northerners would signed their support for it (and by extension Breckinridge's candidacy) were Isaac I. Stevens of Washington Territory, Augustus Schell of New York, Isaac H. Wright of Massachusetts, John R. Thompson of New Jersey, and Jesse D. Bright of Indiana. I guess Stevens can be added to the list of surprising Breckinridge supporters, as he ultimately became a Union division commander in the Civil War, and died a hero's death trying to preserve the Union at the Battle of Chantilly.

Second, Nevins claimed that of the 10 Democratic senators from the north in this time period, 8 supported the Breckinridge candidacy, going on to list Jesse D. Bright (D-IN), Graham N. Fitch (D-IN), William Bigler (D-PA), and William M. Gwin (D-CA) by name as particularly vocal supporters. From my research, I have found that at the time, there were indeed ten Democratic senators from the north, who were:

• William Bigler (D-PA)
• Jesse D. Bright (D-IN)
• Stephen A. Douglas (D-IL)
• Graham N. Fitch (D-IN)
• William M. Gwin (D-CA)
• Joseph Lane (D-OR)
• Milton Latham (D-CA)
• George E. Pugh (D-OH)
• Henry M. Rice (D-MN)
• John R. Thompson (D-NJ)

Of these men, I have been able to find conclusive evidence for Bright, Fitch, Lane, and Thompson, and have found reasonable evidence of the support of Bigler, Gwin, and Latham. Of course, Douglas and Pugh are the two senators would supported Douglas' candidacy, but I have not been able to find a single scrap of evidence that would lead me to believe that Henry M. Rice, a Minnesota man, supported Breckinridge, so I'm am not 100% certain of the authenticity of the quote, although I am inclined to believe the words of Nevin, considering how distinguished of a historian he was.

 

[Peacock Shah]

I'm not sure if you are still looking for more information on this topic, but I just found a ton while looking through a copy of The Emergence of Lincoln (Volume 2) by Allen Nevins, so I'd thought I'd post it here since this thread is still fairly recent. First, one illustration in the book features an advertisement sent out by Breckinridge's Democratic National Committee, and the northerners would signed their support for it (and by extension Breckinridge's candidacy) were Isaac I. Stevens of Washington Territory, Augustus Schell of New York, Isaac H. Wright of Massachusetts, John R. Thompson of New Jersey, and Jesse D. Bright of Indiana. I guess Stevens can be added to the list of surprising Breckinridge supporters, as he ultimately became a Union division commander in the Civil War, and died a hero's death trying to preserve the Union at the Battle of Chantilly.

Second, Nevins claimed that of the 10 Democratic senators from the north in this time period, 8 supported the Breckinridge candidacy, going on to list Jesse D. Bright (D-IN), Graham N. Fitch (D-IN), William Bigler (D-PA), and William M. Gwin (D-CA) by name as particularly vocal supporters. From my research, I have found that at the time, there were indeed ten Democratic senators from the north, who were:

• William Bigler (D-PA)
• Jesse D. Bright (D-IN)
• Stephen A. Douglas (D-IL)
• Graham N. Fitch (D-IN)
• William M. Gwin (D-CA)
• Joseph Lane (D-OR)
• Milton Latham (D-CA)
• George E. Pugh (D-OH)
• Henry M. Rice (D-MN)
• John R. Thompson (D-NJ)

Of these men, I have been able to find conclusive evidence for Bright, Fitch, Lane, and Thompson, and have found reasonable evidence of the support of Bigler, Gwin, and Latham. Of course, Douglas and Pugh are the two senators would supported Douglas' candidacy, but I have not been able to find a single scrap of evidence that would lead me to believe that Henry M. Rice, a Minnesota man, supported Breckinridge, so I'm am not 100% certain of the authenticity of the quote, although I am inclined to believe the words of Nevin, considering how distinguished of a historian he was.

Very late here, but I found an account of Rice and Breckinridge befriending one another while in Congress in the early 1850s, which could explain that.