Francis Granger

Francis Granger
10th United States Postmaster General
In office March 6, 1841 – September 18, 1841
Preceded by	John Milton Niles
Succeeded by	Charles A. Wickliffe
Personal details
Born	(1792-12-01)December 1, 1792 Suffield, Connecticut, U.S.
Died	August 31, 1868(1868-08-31) (aged 75) Canandaigua, New York, U.S.
Political party	National Republican, Whig, Anti-Masonic
Spouse(s)	Cornelia Rutson van Rensselaer Granger
Alma mater	Yale College
Profession	Politician, Lawyer

Francis Granger (December 1, 1792 – August 31, 1868) was a Representative from New York. He was the son of Gideon Granger, another Postmaster General, and the first cousin of Amos P. Granger.

Biography

Granger was born in Suffield, Connecticut, and pursued classical studies at and graduated from Yale College in 1814. He then moved with his father to Canandaigua, New York in 1814, where he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1816 and commenced practice. He married Cornelia Rutson van Rensselaer. They had one son, Gideon Granger II, born in 1821, and an unnamed daughter whom died with her mother in childbirth in 1823. His home at Canandaigua from 1817 to 1827, now known as the Francis Granger House, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Granger was a member of the State Assembly from 1826 to 1828 and from 1830 to 1832. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1828, and in both 1830 and 1832 was an unsuccessful National Republican candidate for Governor of New York. In 1836, he was unsuccessful as a Whig and Anti-Masonic candidate for Vice President, which he narrowly lost when it was voted by the U.S. Senate that Richard M. Johnson was the rightful winner, and also unsuccessful as a Whig candidate for election to the 25th Congress.

He was, however, elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the 24th Congress (March 4, 1835 to March 3, 1837), and was elected as a Whig to the 26th and 27th Congresses (March 4, 1839 to March 5, 1841).

Granger was appointed Postmaster General in the Cabinet of President William Henry Harrison and served from March 6 to September 18, 1841, after which he was again elected to the Twenty-Seventh Congress in a special election to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Greig. He served from November 27, 1841 to March 3, 1843 and was not a candidate for reelection in 1842.

A supporter of the Compromise of 1850, Granger led the pro-Fillmore group which became known as the Silver Gray Whigs after Granger's own silver hair. This faction would remain in conflict with the anti-Compromise Sewardites until the collapse of the Whig Party in the state in 1855.

Chairman of the Whig National Executive Committee from 1856 to 1860, Granger joined in the call for the convention of the Constitutional Union Party that was held in May 1860. He was then a member of the peace convention of 1861 held in Washington, D.C. in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending war. He died in Canandaigua and was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery.

Today, he is the namesake of Francis Granger Middle School, a junior high school in Aurora, Illinois.

External links

• Francis Granger at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Francis Granger at Find A Grave

Political offices
Preceded by John M. Niles	United States Postmaster General Served under: William Henry Harrison, John Tyler March 6, 1841 – September 18, 1841	Succeeded by Charles A. Wickliffe
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by John Dickson	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 26th congressional district 1835-03-04 – 1837-03-03	Succeeded by Mark H. Sibley
Preceded by Mark H. Sibley	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 26th congressional district 1839-03-04 – 1841-03-05	Succeeded by John Greig
Preceded by John Greig	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 26th congressional district 1841-11-27 – 1843-03-03	Succeeded by Amasa Dana
Party political offices
New political party	Whig vice presidential nominee 1836 with John Tyler¹	Succeeded by John Tyler
Notes and references
1. The Whig Party ran regional candidates in 1836; John Tyler ran in the Southern states, and Granger ran in the Northern states.