Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

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Fenton, Reuben Eaton 1819-1885

Statesman; born in Carroll, Chautauqua co., N. Y., July 4, 1819; was educated at Pleasant Hill and Fredonia academies, in his native county; and was admitted to the bar [355] in 1841. Finding the practice of law uncongenial, he entered business, and acquired a moderate fortune. Meanwhile, he became interested in politics, and in 1843-51 served as supervisor of Carroll. In 1852 he was elected to Congress by the Democrats, and there opposed the further extension of slavery. This action resulted in his defeat, in 1854, for a second term, and he united with the Republican party, by whom, in 1856, he was elected to Congress, where he remained till 1864, when he resigned to become governor of New York, in which office he served two terms. In 1869-75 he was in the United States Senate, and in 1878 was chairman of the United States commission to the International Monetary Conference in Paris. He died in Jamestown, N. Y., Aug. 25, 1885.