Everything about Redfield Proctor totally explained
Redfield Proctor (
June 1,
1831 –
March 4,
1908) was a
U.S. politician of the
Republican Party. He served as
Governor of Vermont from
1878 to
1880, as
Secretary of War from
1889 to
1891, and as a
United States Senator for Vermont from
1891 to
1908.
Proctor was a native of Proctorsville (a village in
Cavendish, Vermont), named after his family, in
Windsor County, Vermont. His father, Jabez Proctor, was a farmer, a merchant, and a prominent local
Whig politician.
After graduating from
Dartmouth College in
1851, Redfield Proctor returned to Proctorsville, where he became first a businessman, and later a lawyer. He married Emily Jane Dutton in 1858, and moved to
Boston two years later. Of their five children, four survived: Arabella G.,
Fletcher D.,
Redfield Jr., Emily D. He was initiated into
Delta Upsilon Fraternity as an honorary member by the Middlebury Chapter.
Upon the outbreak of the
American Civil War in
1861 he returned to Vermont and enlisted in the 3d Vermont Regiment, was commissioned as lieutenant and quartermaster, and repaired to the front. In July of the same year he was appointed on the staff of General
William F. ("Baldy") Smith, and in October was promoted and transferred to the 5th Vermont Volunteers, of which he was commissioned major. With this regiment he served nearly a year in the neighborhood of Washington and on the Peninsula. In October,
1862, Major Proctor was promoted to the colonelcy of the 15th Vermont Volunteers, and participated in the
Gettysburg Campaign, but was stationed in the rear and didn't participate in the battle.
After being mustered out of military service in
1863, Proctor initially returned to practicing law, this time in
Rutland, Vermont entering into law partnership with Wheelock G. Veazey. In
1869, he entered business again, taking a job as a manager in the Sutherland Falls Marble Company. In 1880, this company merged with another to become the
Vermont Marble Company, over which Proctor served as president. Six years later, the area containing the company's marble quarries, locally known as Sutherland Falls, was split into a separate town, called
Proctor.
During these years, Proctor began his political career. In
1866 he became a selectman of the town of Rutland. In
1867 he represented his town in the state Legislature, serving as chairman of the committee on elections of the lower House. Again a member of the House in
1868, he served as a member of the committee on ways and means. Elected to the state Senate in
1874, he was chosen president pro tempore of that body. In
1876 he was elected Lieutenant-Governor of the state, and in
1878 was nominated by the Republicans and elected Governor of Vermont.
Proctor remained active in state politics after stepping down as governor. He was delegate-at-large to the Republican national convention in 1884, and also in 1888, and in the latter year was chairman of the Vermont delegation. In 1888, he led the Vermont delegation to the Republican National Convention, where he seconded the presidential nomination of
Benjamin Harrison.
In 1888 the Legislature of Vermont unanimously recommended him for a cabinet position, and in March, 1889, Harrison chose Proctor to be his
Secretary of War. At the War Department, Proctor made a mark with his managerial skill and reforming zeal, with which he modernized the armed forces and improved the living conditions of enlisted soldiers.
Proctor left the War Department in November, 1891 to become a United States senator, filling a vacancy caused by resignation. As a senator he served as chairman of the
U.S. Senate Committee to Establish a University of the United States from 1891 to 1893. He remained a senator for the rest of his life, and was an effective advocate in the Senate for high tariffs and the gold standard, as well as an influence on the military policies of the
McKinley and
Theodore Roosevelt administrations.
Proctor died in
Washington, DC.
Two of Proctor's children,
Fletcher D. Proctor and
Redfield Proctor, Jr., served as
Governors of Vermont.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Redfield Proctor'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://redfield_proctor.totallyexplained.com">Redfield Proctor Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
