Ewing, Charles, 1835-1883

Charles Ewing was born in Lancaster, Ohio, on 3 March 1835, the fifth son of Thomas and Martha (Boyle) Ewing. Several members of his family gained prominence. His father was a United States senator and a cabinet member, serving as Secretary of the Treasury under William Henry Harrison and John Tyler in 1841 and the first Secretary of the Interior under Zachary Taylor in 1849-1850. His brothers Hugh and Thomas were a writer and congressman respectively and his sister Ellen married their foster brother, William Tecumseh Sherman. Whereas Thomas Sr. did not belong to any church until his last minute conversion to Catholicism in 1871, the children were raised in the Catholic faith of their mother. The Grant administration, which took office in 1869, sought to replace the system of Indian agents, both civilians and army officers, who were proving unsatisfactory, especially in controlling the outbreaks of Indian unrest. Grant's Indian peace policy was for the civil administration of each Indian agency to be entrusted to the religious denomination that had an established mission among the Indians. These denominations would have the right to nominate agents, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, and call for their removal. Since much of the mission work among the Indians was carried out by Roman Catholics, the Church expected to receive at least 38 of the 72 agencies. Unfortunately, the President's original plan was amended so that various Protestant churches received the majority of the agencies, with only eight going to the Catholic Church. The frustrated American bishops, determined to do full justice to their allotted agencies and to struggle to gain control of additional ones, selected Ewing as the first Catholic Commissioner for Indian Missions, a position within the newly established Catholic Indian Bureau. As a Catholic lawyer based in the nation's capitol, it was thought he was best suited to protect Catholic interests against Protestant encroachments in dealing with the federal government over Indian affairs. Ewing had already acted on behalf of Catholic Indian missions in the past, and he soon secured the assistance of Rev. Joseph Brouilett, Vice General of the Diocese of Nesqualy, Indian Territory.

From the description of The Charles B. Ewing papers. 1862-1951. (Catholic University of America). WorldCat record id: 66906861

Lawyer and army officer.

From the description of Charles Ewing family papers, 1769-1950. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70981150

Biographical Note

Thomas Ewing (1789-1871)

• 1789, Dec. 28: Born near West Liberty, Ohio County, Va.
• 1792: Moved with family to Marietta, Ohio
• 1798: Moved with family to Ames Township, Athens County, Ohio
• 1809 - 1812 : Worked intermittently at the Kanawha, Va., saltworks
• 1812 - 1815 : Attended Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
• 1815 - 1816 : Studied law in the office of Philemon Beecher, Lancaster, Ohio; admitted to the bar in 1816
• circa 1817 - 1822 : Prosecuting attorney, Fairfield County, Ohio
• 1820: Married Maria Wills Boyle (died 1864)
• 1829: Adopted William T. Sherman
• 1830: Elected from Ohio, United States Senate
• 1841: Appointed secretary of the treasury; resigned Sept. 11
• 1849 - 1850 : Appointed to organize the Home Department (later Department of the Interior) and served as the first secretary of the interior
• 1850: Appointed to the United States Senate to complete unexpired term of Thomas Corwin who became secretary of the treasury
• 1851: Retired from public service, resuming his law practice
• 1851 - 1869 : Practiced law, largely before the United States Supreme Court
• 1861: Appointed delegate to the Peace Convention, Washington, D.C.
• 1868: Appointed secretary of war; United States Senate did not act on nomination
• 1871, Oct. 26: Died, Lancaster, Ohio

Thomas Ewing (1829-1896)

• 1829, Aug. 7: Born, Lancaster, Ohio
• 1852 - 1854 : Attended Brown University, Providence, R.I.
• 1854 - 1857 : Lived in Cincinnati, Ohio; attended Cincinnati Law School; admitted to bar in 1855
• 1856: Married Ellen Ewing Cox
• 1857 - circa 1862 : Moved to Leavenworth, Kans., where he practiced law in the firm Ewing, Denman & Company with his brother, Hugh, and brothers-in-law, Hampton B. Denman and William T. Sherman; firm became Sherman, Ewing & McCook in 1859
• 1858: Member, Kansas Constitutional Convention
• 1861: Appointed delegate to Peace Convention, Washington, D.C. Served as first chief justice, Kansas Supreme Court; resigned 1862
• 1862: Brevetted major-general, United States Army; resigned 1865
• 1865: Defended Samuel Arnold, Edward Spangler, and Samuel Mudd on charges of conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln
• 1865 - 1870 : Practiced law with Ewing & Browning, Washington, D.C.
• 1870: Moved to Lancaster, Ohio
• 1877 - 1881 : Elected from Ohio, United States House of Representatives
• 1882: Moved to Yonkers, New York
• 1882 - 1896 : Practiced law, New York, N.Y.
• 1896, Jan. 21: Died New York, N.Y.

Charles Ewing (1835-1883)

• 1835, Mar. 6: Born, Lancaster, Ohio
• circa 1850 - circa 1854 : Attended St. Joseph's College, Perry County, Ohio, and Gonzaga University, Washington, D.C.
• 1856 - 1858 : Attended University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.
• 1860: Bachelor of laws, Cincinnati College, Cincinnati, Ohio Admitted to the bar, St. Louis, Mo.
• 1861: Entered United States Army with rank of captain
• 1863 - 1867 : Served under his brother-in-law, William T. Sherman, and was part of the "March to the Sea"
• 1865: Brevetted colonel Promoted to brigadier-general in charge of volunteers; resigned in 1867
• 1867 - 1883 : Practiced law, Washington, D.C.
• 1869: Admitted to bar of the United States Supreme Court
• 1870: Married Virginia Larwill Miller (died 1937)
• 1874 - 1883 : Served as Catholic commissioner of Indian missions; became Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions in 1874
• 1883, June 20: Died, Washington, D.C.

Hugh Ewing

• 1826, Oct. 31: Born, Lancaster, Ohio
• 1848: Entered United States Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.; resigned before graduation
• 1854 - 1856 : Admitted to the bar and practiced law, St. Louis, Mo.
• 1857 - 1861 : Moved to Leavenworth, Kans., where he practiced law in the firm Ewing, Denman & Company with his brother, Thomas, and brothers-in-law, Hampton B. Denman and William T. Sherman; firm became Sherman, Ewing & McCook in 1859; speculated in lands, roads, and government housing
• 1858: Married Henrietta Young (died 1927)
• 1861: Entered United States Army with rank of major
• 1862: Promoted to brigadier-general of volunteers
• 1865: Brevetted major-general of volunteers; resigned in 1866
• 1866 - 1870 : Served as minister to Holland
• 1870 - circa 1875 : Practiced law, Washington, D.C.
• circa 1875: Moved to Lancaster, Ohio
• 1905, June 30: Died near Lancaster, Ohio

Virginia Larwill Miller Ewing

• 1846: Born, Mt. Vernon, Ohio
• 1870: Married Charles Ewing (died 1883)
• 1937, Oct. 21: Died, Washington, D.C.

From the guide to the Charles Ewing Family Papers, 1769-1951, (bulk 1850-1890), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)