Pierrepont, Edwards, 1817-1892

Lawyer, of New York, N.Y., U.S. attorney general, and ambassador to Great Britain.

A prominent New York lawyer and politician and Democrat who was against secession and supportive of the use of force to protect the Union. President Lincoln appointed him to try the cases of those who had been imprisoned in the North for suspected disloyalty to the Union cause and after the war President Grant appointed him U.S. Attorney General.

Edwards Pierrepont (1817-1892) was an American lawyer, jurist, and statesman. Born Edwards Munson Pierpont in North Haven, Connecticut, Pierrepont later reverted to an earlier spelling of the family name. He studied at Yale College alongside Samuel J. Tilden, William Maxwell Evarts, and Benjamin Silliman, Jr., graduating in 1837. He studied law at the New Haven Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1840. He practiced law in Columbus, Ohio, before moving to New York and establishing his practice there in 1846. In 1857, Pierrepont was elected judge for the New York City Superior Court. He was a member of the New York State Constitutional Convention (1867-1868), and a member of the Committee of Seventy appointed by Governor Samuel J. Tilden to investigate and curtail Tweed Ring corruption. In 1862, Abraham Lincoln appointed him to a commission for cases involving state prisoners in the custody of military authorities. In return, Pierrepont helped organize the War Democrats in support of Lincoln's 1864 re-election. In 1868, however, Pierrepont aligned himself with Ulysses S. Grant, who later appointed him to several offices, including United States Attorney General. In this capacity he was responsible for the prosecution of Lincoln assassination conspirator John H. Surratt. He also led the prosecution of the Whiskey Ring," a conspiracy by various politicians and government agents to divert tax revenues from whiskey, though as many of the perpetrators were Republican Party members and confederates of President Grant, Pierrepont's tenure as Attorney General lasted only one year. Afterward, he served as United States minister to Great Britain, then returned to private practice. Edwards Pierrepont died on March 6, 1892, in New York City.

Edwards Pierrepont served as judge of the New York Supreme Court (1857-1860), a member of the military commission for the cases of state prisoners in the custody of the federal military authorities during the Civil War, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (1869-1870), Attorney General of the United States (1875-1876), and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States to Britain (1876-1877).

A statesman and jurist, Pierrepont practiced law in Ohio and New York before being appointed as Ulysses Grant's attorney general in 1875-1876. He also served as minister to England 1866-1867 and back in New York, worked against "Boss" Tweed in 1870. Pierrepont died in 1892.

Edwards Pierrepont was born in North Haven, Connecticut, on March 4, 1817. He graduated from Yale College in 1837, studied law at the New Haven Law School, and was admitted to the bar in 1840. He practiced law in Columbus, Ohio, and Edwards Pierrepont was born in North Haven, Connecticut, on March 4, 1817. He graduated from Yale College in 1837, studied law at the New Haven Law School, and was admitted to the bar in 1840. He practiced law in Columbus, Ohio, and moved to New York in 1846 to establish his law practice. Pierrepont was elected judge of the superior court of New York City in 1857. A supporter of the Union cause, he helped organize the War Democrats in support of the re-election of Lincoln in 1864. He returned to the regular Democratic party in 1866 but in 1868 switched his support to Ulysses S. Grant who later appointed him to several offices. Pierrepont was a member of the New York state constitutional convention (1867-1868) and a member of the Committee of Seventy which exposed the ©Tweed ring.♯ He was appointed attorney general of the United States in 1875 and served as minister to Great Britain (1867-1877). Pierrepont died on March 6, 1892.

Edwards Pierrepont (4 March 1817 - 6 March 1892) was a U.S. attorney general and minister to England. He was born Munson Edwards Pierpont in North Haven (now New Haven), Connecticut. Pierrepont opted later in life to drop his first name and adopt an earlier spelling of the family name. Pierrepont came from a distinguished lineage that first arrived in North America in 1650. He was a descendant of one of the founders of Yale College, James Pierpont.. Edwards was groomed for admission into Yale by Noah Porter, who eventually became president of the college. Graduating in 1837, Pierrepont had a distinguished academic career, earning the highest rank in his class and delivering the coveted graduation oratory. Although a member of the Democratic party, Pierrepont was a bitter critic of the secession of southern states in 1860-1861 and advocated the use of force to restore the Union. During the course of the war, he became a prominent War Democrat. In 1862 he was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln to try the cases of those individuals who had been imprisoned throughout the North for suspected disloyalty to the Union cause. In 1864 he became involved with Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton in a plan to promote the presidential candidacy of New York governor Horatio Seymour, who, Pierrepont thought, would keep the country united to continue the war. When George McClellan won the Democratic nomination in 1864, Pierrepont, who opposed McClellan's candidacy, played an instrumental role in organizing War Democrats for Lincoln, helping the president capture a second term. After the election, Pierrepont remained on good terms with Stanton and represented him successfully in December 1865, when a Baltimore resident sued Stanton for illegal imprisonment. Pierrepont's principal defense was the the Habeas Corpus Act of 1863 made such lawsuits against government officials illegal. Later in 1867 Pierrepont was hired by Attorney General Henry Stanbery and Secretary of State William H. Seward to direct the government's prosecution of John Suratt for complicity in the Lincoln assassination conspiracy. Pierrepont, Edwards - National Biography Online http://www.anb.org (Retrieved April 28, 2009)

Hugh McCulloch (7 Dec. 1808-24 May 1895) was a banker and secretary of the treasury. Born in Kennebunk, Maine, the son of Hugh McCulloch, a merchant and shipbuilder, and Abigail Perkins. After studies at Thornton Academy, McCulloch entered Bowdoin College in 1824 but left in his sophomore year because of illness. He taught school from 1826 to 1829 and then read law in Kennebunk and Boston. Having decided that the prospects for a young lawyer would be greater in the West, he headed for Indiana and opened a law practice in the frontier community of Fort Wayne in the summer of 1833. McCulloch, Hugh - National Biography Online http://www.anb.org (Retrieved April 28, 2009)

Biographical Note

Edwards Pierrepont was born in North Haven, Connecticut, on March 4, 1817. He graduated from Yale College in 1837, studied law at the New Haven Law School, and was admitted to the bar in 1840. He practiced law in Columbus, Ohio, and Edwards Pierrepont was born in North Haven, Connecticut, on March 4, 1817. He graduated from Yale College in 1837, studied law at the New Haven Law School, and was admitted to the bar in 1840. He practiced law in Columbus, Ohio, and moved to New York in 1846 to establish his law practice. Pierrepont was elected judge of the superior court of New York City in 1857. A supporter of the Union cause, he helped organize the War Democrats in support of the re-election of Lincoln in 1864. He returned to the regular Democratic party in 1866 but in 1868 switched his support to Ulysses S. Grant who later appointed him to several offices. Pierrepont was a member of the New York state constitutional convention (1867-1868) and a member of the Committee of Seventy which exposed the Tweed ring. He was appointed attorney general of the United States in 1875 and served as minister to Great Britain (1867-1877). Pierrepont died on March 6, 1892

Edwards Pierrepont, attorney, judge, Attorney General of the United States, and minister to Great Britain, was born in North Haven, Connecticut, the son of Giles and Eunice (Munson) Pierpont (Edwards later adopted an early family spelling of his surname), March 4, 1817. He attended Yale College, graduating in 1837. Pierrepont studied law at the New Haven Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1840. From 1840 to 1841, he was a tutor at Yale. In the latter year he went to Columbus, Ohio, where he became a law partner of Phineas B. Wilcox. In 1846 he moved to New York City and established a successful legal practice. He also became an active worker for the Democratic party and was elected judge of the superior court of New York City in 1857. He was a supporter of the Union cause and helped to organize the War Democrats in support of the reelection of Lincoln in 1864. He returned to the regular Democratic party in the election of 1866, but with the nomination of Seymour and Blair in 1868, he switched his support to Ulysses S. Grant who later appointed him to several offices.

In 1867 Pierrepont assisted the United States Attorney General in the prosecution of John H. Surratt for complicity in the assassination of Lincoln. He was a member of the New York state constitutional convention, 1867-1868, and a member of the Committee of Seventy which exposed and attacked the "Tweed ring." Pierrepont was appointed Attorney General of the United States in 1875. From 1876 to 1877 he served as minister to Great Britain. In the latter part of his life, Pierrepont published many pamphlets on financial questions, most of which advocated the adoption of a bimetallic standard of currency.

Pierrepont was married in 1846 to Margaretta Willoughby of Brooklyn, New York. He died on March 6, 1892. (See also the chronology which follows).