Lewis & Clark College

Evarts, William M.

William Maxwell Evarts was an American lawyer and statesman who served as U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Senator from New York. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of author, editor, and Indian removal opponent Jeremiah Evarts, and the grandson of Declaration of Independence signer Roger Sherman. William attended Boston Latin School, graduated from Yale College in 1837 and then attended Harvard Law School.He was admitted to the bar in New York in 1841, and soon took high rank in his profession. He married Helen Minerva Bingham Wardner in 1843. They had 12 children between 1845 and 1862, all born in New York City. A Whig Party supporter before joining the fledgling Republican Party, Evarts was appointed an assistant United States district attorney and served from 1849-1853. In 1860 he was chairman of the New York delegation to the Republican National Convention.He was chief counsel for President Andrew Johnson during the impeachment trial. Evarts served as United States Attorney General for Johnson from July 1868 until March 1869.[4] Evarts was appointed Attorney General after the Senate declined to re-confirm Henry Stanbery to the office, which Stanbery had resigned from in order to participate in the defense of Johnson in the impeachment trial. Evarts served as counsel for President-elect Rutherford B. Hayes, on behalf of the Republican Party, before the Electoral Commission in the disputed presidential election of 1876. During President Hayes's administration he was Secretary of State. He was a delegate to the International Monetary Conference at Paris 1881. From 1885 to 1891 he was a U.S. Senator from New York. While in Congress (49th, 50th and 51st Congresses), he served as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Library from 1887 to 1891. He was also a sponsor of the Judiciary Act of 1891 also known as the Evarts Act, which created the United States courts of appeals. He led the American fund-raising effort for the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty, serving as the chairman of the American Committee. Senator Evarts retired from public life due to ill health in 1891.

Politicians

1877

image/tiff

Image
StillImage

For questions about rights statements, or access to the original document please contact Lewis & Clark College Special Collections and Archives http://specialcollections.lclark.edu
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/

Nineteenth Century Political Party Photograph Collection