Iowa Delegation

The Peace Conference of 1861

In February 1861, following the inauguration of Lincoln and the secession of seven states from the Union, a convention of 131 politicians from the remaining states met in Washington, D. C., at the Willard Hotel. They aimed to prevent civil war, and the secession of further states, by proposing an amendment to the Constitution that would protect the existence and practice of slavery, within certain parameters, by enshrining them in constitutional law. An amendment was eventually agreed and recommended to Congress, where it was not passed.

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Iowa Delegation

This is one of the 22 delegations in the convention, accounting for 4 of 138 people who took part.

Members (4):

Name	Visualize	Details	Delegations
Samuel H. Curtis	Visualize	None	Iowa Delegation (This negotiation)
James W. Grimes	Visualize	(20 October, 1816 -- 7 February, 1872) Grimes was an American lawyer and politician. Born in Deering, N.H., Grimes moved west after studying law. Grimes was a member of the Iowa territorial house of representatives 1838-1839 and 1843-1844. Grimes also served as governor of Iowa from 1854 to 1858. Grimes was then elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1859 and was reelected in 1865 and served until he resigned due to poor health. [Source: 'Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774- Present', available at http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp]	Iowa Delegation (United States Fourteenth Amendment & The Civil Rights Act of 1866) , Iowa Delegation (United States Fifteenth Amendment) , Iowa Delegation (The Civil Rights Act of 1875) , Iowa Delegation (The Road to Civil War) , Iowa Delegation (This negotiation) , Iowa Delegation (United States Thirteenth Amendment 1863-65)
James Harlan	Visualize	(26 August, 1820 -- 5 October, 1899) Harlan was an American lawyer and politician. Born in Clark County, Ill., Harlan moved to Iowa in 1845. In 1850, Harlan was admitted to the bar and practiced in Iowa City. Harlan was elected as a Free Soiler to the United States Senate in 1855, was reelected in 1860, and served from January 29, 1857 until May 15, 1865. Harlan resigned to accept an appointment as Secretary of the Interior in the Cabinet of President Andrew Johnson from May 15, 1865 to July 27, 1866. After resigning from this position, Harlan again was elected to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1867 to March 3, 1873. [Source: 'Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774- Present', available at http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp]	Iowa Delegation (United States Fifteenth Amendment) , Iowa Delegation (The Civil Rights Act of 1875) , Iowa Delegation (The Road to Civil War) , Iowa Delegation (This negotiation) , Iowa Delegation (United States Thirteenth Amendment 1863-65) , Iowa Delegation (United States Fourteenth Amendment & The Civil Rights Act of 1866)
William Vandever	Visualize	(March 31, 1817 — July 23, 1893) William Vandever, a Representative from Iowa and from California; born in Baltimore, Md., March 31, 1817; attended the common schools and pursued an academic course; moved to Illinois in 1839 and to Iowa in 1851; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1852 and commenced practice in Dubuque, Iowa; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Congresses and served from March 4, 1859, to September 24, 1861, when he was mustered into the Union Army as colonel of the Ninth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, never having resigned his seat in Congress; in the Thirty-seventh Congress, House Committee on Elections ruled that he was not entitled to his seat, but House did not remove him; promoted to brigadier general of Volunteers in 1862 and brevetted a major general in 1865; member of the peace convention of 1861 held in Washington, D.C., in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending war; resumed the practice of law in Dubuque, Iowa; appointed United States Indian inspector by President Grant in 1873, and served until 1877; moved to San Buenaventura, Calif., in 1884; elected as a Republican from California to the Fiftieth and Fifty-first Congresses (March 4, 1887-March 3, 1891); was not a candidate for renomination in 1890; died in Ventura, Calif., July 23, 1893; interment in Ventura Cemetery. [Source: “Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 - Present,” available at https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/V000031]	Iowa Delegation (The Road to Civil War) , Iowa Delegation (This negotiation)