James M. Birney (June 17, 1817 - May 8, 1888) is a lawyer, newspaper publisher, and American politician from the US state of Michigan. He served as the 13th Michigan Lieutenant Governor and as US Secretary to the Netherlands.
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Birney was born in Danville, Kentucky, the eldest son of Agatha (McDowell) and James Gillespie Birney, who was a presidential candidate for the Liberty Party in the 1840 and 1844 elections. He spent his early years in Alabama and Kentucky. He was educated at the College Center in Danville and in 1836 graduated from the University of Miami in Oxford, Ohio. Over the next two years, he was employed by the university as professors of Greek and Latin. After this, he studied law at Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut.
After finishing his studies, Birney moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and started legal practice until 1856, when he succeeded for his father's business interests in Saginaw Valley of Michigan, where his father had made a major investment in what had become Bay City. He moved there by in the summer of 1857. One of Birney's most famous early public service actions was getting a share in 1857 from an act in the state legislature that changed the name of "Lower Saginaw" to Bay City. In 1856, Birney had the distinction of editing the city's first newspaper, Bay City Press, which lasted only a few weeks.
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Political career
In 1858, Birney was nominated as a Republican candidate for the Michigan Senate. By the time the senate district was considered a Democratic stronghold, it was seen as a significant achievement that Birney garnered all votes in the district within Bay County except five. He served one term in the Senate representing the district of Saginaw. While in the Senate, he is chairman of the committee on public instruction and members of the judiciary committee.
In 1860, he was nominated by a Republican state convention as a candidate for Lieutenant Governor with Austin Blair as a candidate for Governor. Birney was elected to the office by a majority of over 20,000 votes. When he served as Lieutenant Governor, a vacancy appeared in court circuit 10 in Michigan, and the governor offered him a position. Birney resigned as Lieutenant Governor April 3, 1861 to receive the judicial appointment and served in that position for four years. He lost the next election and was replaced by Jabez G. Sutherland.
After leaving the bench, Birney founded the Bay City Chronicle in 1871 as a weekly Republican newspaper and in June 1873 began publishing the Morning Chronicle . He was also a delegate to the Republican National Convention of Michigan in 1872.
In 1872, Governor Henry P. Baldwin nominated Birney to US President Ulysses S. Grant as a Centennial Commissioner for Michigan to celebrate the Sixth Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 1876. He could not serve in this capacity, however, as he was appointed on 17 December 1875 as the US Minister to the Netherlands. He left for The Hague in 1876 and served until 1882.
Birney died on May 8, 1888 in Bay City, Michigan. He was interred in Pine Ridge Cemetery in Bay City.
Personal life
While in New Haven studying at Yale College, Birney married Amanda Moulton on June 1, 1841. His wife was the stepson of Nathaniel Bacon, Esquire of New Haven. Birney and his wife have five children: James G. Birney, Arthur Moulton Birney, Sophia Hull Birney, Alice Birney and one child who died in infancy. The oldest, James G. Birney, distinguished himself as Captain in the 7th Regiment of the Michigan Volunteers and died when a regular US army officer.
References
Further reading
- Tuttle, Charles R. (2005) [1873]. "Chapter XVII". General history of the state of Michigan . Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Library. pp.Ã, 269-271 . Retrieved 2007-04-30 .
- Gansser, Augustus H. (2005) [1905]. "Biographical". History of Bay County, Michigan: and resident representative . Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Library. pp.Ã, 408-411 . Retrieved 2007-04-30 .
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