- Ezra B. French
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.
Ezra B. French
Quill platform ID: p15947.
(September 23, 1810 — April 24, 1880) Ezra Bartlett French, a Representative from Maine; born in Landaff, Grafton County, N.H., September 23, 1810; attended the common schools and pursued an academic course; studied law in Bath, N.H., and Plymouth, N.H.; was admitted to the bar in 1833 and commenced practice in Portland and Waldoboro, Maine; moved to Noblesboro (later Damariscotta), Maine, and continued practice; member of the State house of representatives 1838-1840; served in the State senate 1842-1845; secretary of state of Maine 1845-1850; bank commissioner; newspaper editor in 1856; assisted in organizing the Republican Party in 1856; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1859-March 3, 1861); was not a candidate for renomination in 1860; member of the peace convention of 1861 held in Washington, D.C., in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending war; appointed Second Auditor of the Treasury August 3, 1861, by President Lincoln, and continued during the administrations of Presidents Johnson, Grant, and Hayes, serving until his death in Washington, D.C., April 24, 1880; interment in Hillside Cemetery, Damariscotta, Maine. [Source: “Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 - Present,” available at https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/F000377]
Member of Maine Delegation—The Peace Conference of 1861, Maine Delegation—The Road to Civil War.
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