Name Alvin Saunders Resigned March 4, 1883 | Role Former U.S. senator | |
Born July 12, 1817Fleming County, Kentucky ( 1817-07-12 ) Died November 1, 1899, Omaha, Nebraska, United States | ||
Previous office Senator (NE) 1877–1883 | ||
Alvin Saunders (July 12, 1817 – November 1, 1899) was a U.S. Senator from Nebraska, in the United States, as well as the final and longest-serving governor of the Nebraska Territory, a tenure he served during most of the American Civil War.
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Education
Saunders was born in Fleming County, Kentucky. He attended the common schools and pursued an academic course; he moved with his father to Illinois in 1829 and then to Mount Pleasant, Iowa (then a part of Wisconsin Territory) in 1836.
Political career
He was the postmaster of Mount Pleasant for seven years. Saunders studied law but never entered into practice; instead, he engaged in mercantile pursuits and banking. He was a delegate to the Iowa State constitutional convention in 1846 and was a member of the Iowa State Senate from 1854 to 1856 and 1858 to 1860. Saunders was one of the commissioners appointed by Congress to organize the Union Pacific Railroad Company.
He served as the last Governor of Nebraska Territory from 1861 to 1867. He was a delegate to the 1868 Republican National Convention. Saunders was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served a single term from March 4, 1877, to March 3, 1883; chairman of the Committee on Territories (Forty-seventh Congress). He died in Omaha on November 1, 1899; interment in Forest Lawn Cemetery.
Family
Saunders was the grandfather of William Henry Harrison, who served several terms as Wyoming's member of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1950s and 60s. His son-in-law was Russell Benjamin Harrison.
Legacy
Saunders County, Nebraska and Saunders School in Omaha were both named after him. Alvin Saunders Johnson, the founding editor of The New Republic, was named in honor of Saunders.