Theodore M Pomeroy

Early life and education

Theodore Medad Pomeroy was born on December 31, 1824, the second son and fourth child (of nine) of Rev. Medad Pomeroy (1792–1867), a minister in the Presbyterian church originally from Massachusetts, and Lilly Maxwell (1794–1857), who was originally from Connecticut. He spent his childhood in the village of Elbridge where he went to live when he was nine years old.

He was educated at the Monroe Academy and at 15, entered Hamilton College, as a Junior as students under 13 were not admitted. He graduated in 1842 at 17 years-old and was ranked in the first division of six in a class of 24.

Legal career

In May 1843, at the age of 18, he left his parent's home in Cayuga and moved to the Village of Auburn where he entered the firm of Beach & Underwood, as a law student. William H. Seward was counsel for the firm as he had just finished serving as the Governor of New York from 1838 to 1842. Christopher Morgan and Samuel Blatchford, who later became one of the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, became associated with the firm. On May 23, 1846, he was admitted to practice as an attorney in New York State.

Political career

In 1847, he was elected by the Whig Party as clerk of Auburn and in 1851, he was nominated by the Whigs and was elected district attorney. He was reelected again in 1853 and served a second term. At the end of his second term he was chosen to be a Member of the New York Assembly by the Republicans to represent the second district of Cayuga and served in the legislature in 1857 but declined renomination.

In September 1860, he was nominated and elected by the Republican party to represent the 25th Congressional district, composed of the counties of Cayuga and Wayne, in the House of Representatives. On July 4, 1861, he took his seat at the extra session of the 37th Congress convened by the President Abraham Lincoln, right after the start of the Civil War. He was referred to as the youngest looking member on the floor by Washington newspaper correspondents, who described him as follows:

Mr. Pomeroy of Auburn is small in stature, with keen black eyes, a peculiarly expressive countenance and somewhere near as smart as chain lightning, at least when he deals with lower law Democracy. He is one of the most energetic and effective debaters in the House and brimful to running over with that kind of Republicanism which is found in the now somewhat antiquated document known as the Declaration of Independence. The lions of buccaneer Democracy fare hard when they fall into his hands and he occasionally handles certain old fogy Republicans without gloves.

He was nominated by acclamation in 1862, 1864, and 1866 from the then 24th Congressional district which comprised the counties of Cayuga, Wayne and Seneca. For a few hours, Pomeroy was the Speaker of the House, due to Vice President-elect Schuyler Colfax's resignation on March 3, 1869, until the session was adjourned sine die.

Pomeroy returned to politics and was elected mayor of Auburn, New York,serving from 1875 to 1876, then as a member of the New York State Senate (25th D.) in 1878 and 1879.

Banking career

After the war ended, a boom in business production and industry began around the country. In the spring of 1866, the Merchants Union Express Company was organized to transport trade and goods across the United States with Elmore P. Ross as president, William H. Seward Jr. as vice-president, John N. Knapp as secretary, William C. Beardsley as treasurer, and Pomeroy as their attorney. By October 1866, the company was transporting goods across the major U.S. railroads and by the beginning of 1867, the company operated a network of express lines across the entire United States. The huge business incurred equally huge debts and in 1868, the company was acquired and merged with the American Merchants Union, now known as the American Express Company. Pomeroy stayed on and served as first vice-president and general counsel, along with co-founder William Fargo and later with William's brother, J. C. Fargo, in 1868.

Personal life

On September 4, 1855, while serving his second term as District Attorney, he married Elizabeth Leitch Watson (1835–1892), the second daughter of Robert Watson, also of Auburn. Elizabeth's sister, Janet MacNeil Watson (1839–1913), married William H. Seward Jr. (1839–1920). Together, they had five children:

Pomeroy retired from public life in 1879 and lived at 168 Genesee Street in Auburn, where he died in 1905. Harriet Tubman (1822–1913) was a close friend of the family who helped care for the Pomeroy children. She attended his funeral and it was reported that only her flowers and letter were placed on his casket and buried with him.

Descendants

Pomeroy's grandchildren include New York State Senator Robert Watson Pomeroy (1902–1989), Janet Pomeroy Avery (1891–1969), who married John Foster Dulles (1888–1959), the U.S. Secretary of State during the Eisenhower Administration, and Josephine Herrick (1897–1972), photographer and teacher.

His great-children include John W. F. Dulles (1913–2008), a professor of history and specialist in Brazil at the University of Texas at Austin, Lillias Dulles Hinshaw (1914–1987), a Presbyterian minister, and Avery Dulles (1918–2008), who converted to Roman Catholicism, entered the Jesuit order, and became the first American theologian to be appointed a Cardinal.