Thomas Ewing

For other uses, see Thomas Ewing (disambiguation).
Thomas Ewing
1st United States Secretary of the Interior
In office
March 8, 1849 – July 22, 1850
President Zachary Taylor
Millard Fillmore
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Thomas McKennan
14th United States Secretary of the Treasury
In office
March 4, 1841 – September 11, 1841
President William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
Preceded by Levi Woodbury
Succeeded by Walter Forward
United States Senator
from Ohio
In office
July 20, 1850 – March 4, 1851
Preceded by Thomas Corwin
Succeeded by Benjamin Wade
In office
March 4, 1831 – March 4, 1837
Preceded by Jacob Burnet
Succeeded by William Allen
Personal details
Born December 28, 1789
West Liberty, Virginia, U.S.(now West Virginia)
Died October 26, 1871 (aged 81)
Lancaster, Ohio, U.S.
Political party Whig Party (1833–1871)
Other political
affiliations		 National Republican Party (Before 1833)
Spouse(s) Maria Wills Boyle Ewing
Alma mater Ohio University
Profession Lawyer
Religion Roman Catholicism
Signature

Thomas Ewing, Sr. (December 28, 1789 – October 26, 1871) was a National Republican and Whig politician from Ohio. He served in the U.S. Senate as well as serving as the Secretary of the Treasury and the first Secretary of the Interior. He is also known as the foster father (and subsequently father-in-law) of famous American Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman.

Biography

Born in West Liberty, Ohio County, Virginia (now West Virginia), was the son of Revolutionary War veteran George Ewing. After studying at Ohio University and reading law under Philemon Beecher, Ewing commenced the practice of law in Lancaster, Ohio, in 1816.

The Zachary Taylor Administration, 1849 Daguerreotype by Mathew Brady
From left to right: William B. Preston, Thomas Ewing, John M. Clayton, Zachary Taylor, William M. Meredith, George W. Crawford, Jacob Collamer and Reverdy Johnson, (1849).

As a colorful country lawyer, he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1830 as a Whig and served a single term. He was unsuccessful in seeking a second term in 1836. Ewing served as Secretary of the Treasury in 1841, serving under Presidents William Henry Harrison and John Tyler. He resigned on September 11, 1841, along with the entire cabinet (except Secretary of State Daniel Webster), in protest of Tyler's veto of the Banking Act.

Ewing was later appointed to serve as the first Secretary of the Interior by President Zachary Taylor. Ewing served in the position from March 8, 1849–July 22, 1850 under Taylor and Millard Fillmore. As first secretary, he consolidated bureaus from various Departments, such as the Land Office from the Treasury Department and the Indian Bureau from the War Department. The bureaus were being kicked out of their offices as unwanted tenants in their former departments. However, the Interior Department had no office space, so Ewing rented space. Later, the Patent Office building, with a new east wing, provided permanent space in 1852. Ewing initiated the Interior Department's culture of corruption by wholesale replacement of officials with political patronage. Newspapers called him "Butcher Ewing" for his efforts.

In 1850, Ewing was appointed to the Senate to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Thomas Corwin, and served from July 20, 1850–March 3, 1851. Ewing was unsuccessful in seeking re-election in 1851. In 1861, Ewing served as one of Ohio's delegates to the peace conference held in Washington in hopes of staving off civil war. After the war, Ewing was appointed by President Andrew Johnson to a third cabinet post as Secretary of War in 1868 following the firing of Edwin M. Stanton but the Senate, still outraged at Johnson's firing of Stanton—which had provoked Johnson's impeachment—refused to act on the nomination.


1856

Ewing married Maria Wills Boyle, a Roman Catholic, and raised their children in her faith. His foster son was the famous general William Tecumseh Sherman. Sherman was given a Catholic baptism in their home, and it is often reported that he only acquired the Christian name "William" at that time and that previously he was known simply as "Tecumseh Sherman." However, there is reason to believe that Sherman was always named "William Tecumseh."[1] Sherman eventually married Thomas Ewing Sr.'s daughter, Ellen Ewing Sherman. Ewing's namesake son, Thomas Ewing, Jr., was an American Civil War Union army general and two-term U.S. Congressman from Ohio. Two of Ewing's other sons – Hugh Boyle Ewing and Charles Ewing (General) – also became generals in the Union army during the Civil War.

Ewing was born a Presbyterian, but for many years attended Catholic services with his family. He was formally baptized into the Catholic faith during his last illness.[2]

Prior to his death on October 26, 1871, Ewing had been the last surviving member of the Harrison and Tyler Cabinets. Future President and Governor of Ohio Rutherford B. Hayes was a pallbearer at his funeral. He is buried in Saint Mary Cemetery, Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio USA.[3]

References

  1. ↑ See Schenker, Carl R., Jr., "'My Father . . . Named Me William Tecumseh ': Rebutting the Charge That General Sherman Lied About His Name," Ohio History (2008), vol. 115, p. 55; for more information see William Tecumseh Sherman, "Early Life."
  2. ↑ Lewis, 33-34, 609-10.
  3. ↑ "Thomas Ewing". Find A Grave. Retrieved 23 August 2012.

Further reading

External links

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