French, Benjamin B. (Benjamin Brown), 1800-1870

Benjamin Brown French was assistant clerk in the United States House of Representatives from 1826 to 1845 when he was promoted to Clerk during the 29th Congress. He subsequently served as U.S. Commissioner of Public Buildings. His interests included poetry and he was an enthusiastic Freemason. Henry Flagg French was an attorney in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. He was a county solicitor from 1838 to 1848, and a bank commissioner from 1848 to 1852. He served as a justice of the Court of Common Pleas in New Hampshire from 1855 to 1859, an assistant district attorney in Massachusetts from 1892 to 1865, and served as an assistant Secretary of the Treasury in Washington from 1876 to 1885.

From the description of Correspondence, 1826-1870 : with Henry F. French. (Dartmouth College Library). WorldCat record id: 37114813

Benjamin B. French was the Commissioner of Public Buildings. B. Oertly was Acting Assistant Architect in the Treasury Department.

From the description of Letter : Washington, D.C., to B. Oertly, Washington, D.C., 1865 Nov. 17. (University of Chicago Library). WorldCat record id: 52249303

From the description of Letter : Washington, D.C., to B. Oertly, Washington, D.C., 1865 Nov. 17. (University of Chicago Library). WorldCat record id: 78505242

Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, New Hampshire politician, and commissioner of public buildings in Washington, D.C. Other individuals represented include Benjamin's son Francis Ormond French, financier; Amos Tuck, U.S. representative from N.H., whose daughter Ellen married Francis O. French in 1861; and William Merchant Richardson, chief justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court and father of Benjamin B. French's first wife.

From the description of Benjamin B. French family papers, 1778-1940 (bulk 1813-1893). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70981673

Author, U.S. Commissioner of Public Buildings.

From the description of Letter : U.S. House of Representatives, to Dear Sir, 1845 May 9. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 22334448

American lawyer.

From the description of Autograph letters signed (2) : Washington, D.C., to President Lincoln, 1861 Mar. 6 and 1861 Mar. 18. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270752189

Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, politician, and commissioner of public buildings.

From the description of Altar of liberty, 1835. (Historical Society of Washington, Dc). WorldCat record id: 70957848

Biographical Notes

Benjamin B. French

• 1800, Sept. 4: Born, Chester, N.H.
• 1825: Married Elizabeth Richardson (died 1861)
• 1828 - 1830 : Assistant clerk, New Hampshire state senate
• 1831 - 1833 : Representative, New Hampshire legislature
• 1833: Accepted appointment in clerk's department of the United States House of Representatives
• 1845 - 1847 : Clerk of the United States House of Representatives
• 1847 - 1850 : President, Magnetic Telegraph Co.
• 1853: Appointed commissioner of public buildings by President Franklin Pierce (resigned 1855)
• 1857: President, Republican Association of Washington, Washington, D.C.
• 1859 - 1865 : Grand master of Templars of the United States
• 1861: Chief marshal of District of Columbia at inauguration of Abraham Lincoln
• 1861 - 1867 : Commissioner of public buildings under presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson
• 1862: Married Mary Ellen Brady
• 1870, Aug. 12: Died, Washington, D. C.

Francis O. French

• 1837, Sept. 12: Born, Chester, N. H.
• 1857: Graduated, Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass.
• 1859: LL.B., Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Mass.
• 1861: Married Ellen Tuck
• 1862: Appointed deputy naval officer of customs, Boston, Mass.
• 1865: Joined banking firm Samuel A. Way & Co., Boston, Mass.
• 1870: Joined banking firm Jay Cooke & Co., New York, N.Y.
• 1873: Promoted to partner, Jay Cooke & Co.
• 1874: Member of a group that acquired control of the First National Bank of New York
• 1880: Disposed of his interest in First National Bank of New York and retired
• 1888 - 1893 : President, Manhattan Trust Co., New York, N.Y.
• 1893, Feb. 26: Died, Tuxedo Park, N.Y.

Amos Tuck

• 1810, Aug. 2: Born, Parsonsfield, Maine
• 1834: Married Sarah Nudd (died 1847)
• 1835: Graduated, Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H.
• 1838: Began law practice in Exeter, N.H.
• 1842: Representative, New Hampshire legislature
• 1847: Married Catherine Townsend Shephard (died 1876)
• 1847 - 1853 : Member, United States House of Representatives
• 1853 - 1854 : Assisted in founding the Republican party
• 1860: Member, platform committee, Republican party national convention, Chicago, Ill.
• 1861: Delegate, Peace Congress, Washington, D.C.
• 1861 - 1865 : Naval officer of the district of Boston and Charlestown, Mass.
• 1865: Resumed law practice
• 1879, Dec. 11: Died, Exeter, N.H.

From the guide to the Benjamin B. French Family Papers, 1778-1940, (bulk 1813-1893), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)