James Appleton

Brigadier General James Appleton (February 14, 1785 – August 25, 1862)[1] was an American abolitionist, early supporter of temperance, and politician from Maine.[2]

General James Appleton
Member of the Maine House of Representatives
In office
1836–1839
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office
1813–1834
Personal details
Born(1785-02-14)February 14, 1785
Ipswich, Massachusetts
DiedAugust 25, 1862(1862-08-25) (aged 77)
Ipswich, Massachusetts
NationalityAmerican
Political partyFederalist, Whig, Liberty
Spouse
Sarah Fuller
​
​
(m. 1807)​
RelationsWilliam Appleton (cousin)
Samuel Appleton (cousin)
Nathan Appleton (cousin)
Children10
Parent(s)Samuel Appleton
Mary White
RelativesAppleton family
OccupationPublisher
Signature

Early life

Appleton was born on February 14, 1785, in Ipswich, Massachusetts, on a family farm that had been granted to his ancestor, Samuel Appleton, in 1636.[3] His parents were Samuel Appleton (1738–1819) and Mary (née White) Appleton (d. 1834), daughter of Rev. Timothy White,[4] and his younger brothers were Timothy Appleton (1778–1857) and Samuel Appleton (1771–1852).[5]

His paternal grandparents were Elizabeth Sawyer (1709–1785) and Isaac Appleton (1704–1794), the son of Isaac Appleton (1664–1747) and Priscilla Baker, granddaughter of Lt. Gov. Samuel Symonds.[6] Appleton was also the cousin of U.S. Rep.William Appleton (1786–1862), merchant Samuel Appleton (1766–1853), and U.S. Rep. Nathan Appleton (1779–1861).[3]

Career

Appleton fought in the War of 1812, commissioned July 3, 1813,[7] and earned the rank of Lieutenant colonel with the Massachusetts Militia and was later promoted to the rank of Brigadier general.[8] He commanded actions at Sandy Bay in September 1814 and Gallop's Folly in October 1814.[7] Appleton lived much of his life in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and nearby Marblehead, Massachusetts, prior to moving to Maine.[2]

Massachusetts General Court

In 1813 and 1814, at the age of 28, Appleton, a practicing lawyer, was elected to represent Gloucester as a Federalist to the Massachusetts legislature where he was an outspoken critic of the Missouri Compromise.[8] In 1824, he was the official escort of the Marquis de Lafayette upon his visit to Boston.[5] In 1832, he presented a petition to the Massachusetts legislature prohibiting sales of liquor in fewer quantities than thirty gallons.[4]

Maine politics

In 1833, he moved to Portland, Maine, and was elected to the Maine House of Representatives[2] in 1836. The following year, he was chairman of a committee to consider the license system.[4] In 1837,[9] he submitted a report on the evils of liquor that became the basis of the Maine Temperance Law of 1846.[10] The report was considered by Neal Dow to be the first official document in the history of Maine prohibiting the liquor traffic.[4]

In 1839 and 1840, he was vice president of the American Anti-Slavery Society.[11]

In the 1842, 1843, and 1844 gubernatorial elections, Appleton ran for Governor of Maine with the Liberty Party, an abolitionist political party.[11] In 1848, he was a Free Soil presidential elector supporting Martin Van Buren.[11]

In 1861, during the Civil War, James gave patriotic speeches defending the Union and in support of abolition.[5]

Personal life

On November 15, 1807,[4] he was married to Sarah Fuller (1787–1872), the daughter of Rev. Daniel Fuller and Hannah Bowers, of Gloucester. Together, they were the parents of:[12][3]

  • Samuel Gilman Appleton (1808–1873), who married Sarah Gardiner, daughter of Rev. Sylvester Gardiner, in 1839.[12]
  • Sarah Fuller Appleton (1811–1884), who married Rev. Stephen Caldwell Millett in 1833.[12]
  • James Appleton (1813–1884), who married Sarah Bristol Edwards, daughter of Samuel L. Edwards, in 1842.[12]
  • Mary White Appleton (1815–1905), who did not marry.[12]
  • Elizabeth Putnam Appleton (1818–1897), who married Shelton L. Hall in 1845.[12]
  • Joanna Dodge Appleton (1821–1870), who married Peyton R. Morgan in 1843.[12]
  • Hannah Fuller Appleton (1823–1903), who married Robert Helyer Thayer (1820–1888).[12]
  • Daniel Fuller Appleton (1826–1904), who married Julia Randall (d. 1886), daughter of Nicholas P. Randall. After her death, he married Susan Cowles, daughter of John P. Cowles, in 1889.[12]
  • Harriette Hooper Appleton (1828–1905), who married Rev. John Cotton Smith, rector of St John's Church, Portland, and later of the Church of the Ascension in New York City, in 1849.[12]
  • Anna Whittemore Appleton (1831–); married Dr. Charles H. Osgood, in 1852.[12]

He lived in Portland from 1833 until 1853 when his elder brother, Timothy Appleton, called him to help manage the family farm in Ipswich.[6] He retired back to Ipswich, buying out his father's surviving heirs and became the sole owner of Appleton Farm in 1857. He died there in 1862.[2][3]

Descendants

Through his son, Daniel, he was the grandfather of 36 including Francis Randall Appleton, a noted New York society man during the Gilded Age.

Honors

The Woman's Relief Corps gave a marker on Ipswich's North Green, named in honor of Appleton and in memory of the unknown soldiers and sailors of the Civil War.[5]

References
  1. "MHS Collections Online: James Appleton". www.masshist.org. Massachusetts Historical Society. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  2. Appleton, Daniel Fuller (1886). The Origin of the Maine Law and of Prohibitory Legislation: With a Brief Memoir of James Appleton. National temperance society and publication house. pp. 15–. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  3. Appleton, William Sumner (1873). A Rough Sketch of the Appleton Genealogy. T.R. Marvin & Son. p. 26. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  4. Hannan, Caryn (2008). Massachusetts Biographical Dictionary. State History Publications. pp. 26–27. ISBN 9781878592668. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  5. Dolan, Susan Hill; Campbell, Rebecca Gardner (Fall 2013). "Generations of Appleton Family Portraits" (PDF). thetrustees.org. Ipswich, Massachusetts: The Trustees of Reservations. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 21, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  6. "Appleton Family Papers" (PDF). thetrustees.access.preservica.com. Sharon, MA: The Trustees of Reservations, Archives & Research Center. April 2008. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  7. Webb, Henry Randall; Noble, Henry Harmon (June 1, 1908). The Constitution and Register of Membership of the General Society of the War of 1812. Philadelphia, PA: The Order of the General Society | The Law Reporter Printing Co. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  8. "Boston's Crusade Against Slavery - Houghton Library". hcl.harvard.edu. Harvard University. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  9. Byrne 1961, pp. 24–26.
  10. Byrne, Frank L. (1961). Prophet of Prohibition: Neal Dow and His Crusade. Madison, Wisconsin: State Historical Society of Wisconsin. OCLC 2126034.
  11. Johnson, Reinhard O. (2009). The Liberty Party, 1840-1848: Antislavery Third-Party Politics in the United States. LSU Press. p. 380. ISBN 9780807142639. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  12. Cutter, William Richard (1913). New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 179. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
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