William Slocum Groesbeck was born in Kinderhook of
Rensselaer County, NY, on July 24, 1815. In 1816, his
family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he grew up and
attended the local common schools. He later attended
Augusta College in Kentucky and graduated in 1835 from
Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. After college, Groesbeck
studied law and gained admission to the bar in 1836.
He began his law practice in Cincinnati, quickly earning
a reputation as a brilliant legal mind. In 1837, he
married Elizabeth Burnet, the daughter of a judge in
Cincinnati, and they had 10 children.
In the 1850s, Groesbeck's career in public service
expanded beyond his legal practice. In 1851, he became
a member of the Ohio State ConstitutionalCconvention;
and in 1852, he was the commissioner to codify the laws
of Ohio. Groesbeck ran for Congress in 1856 as a Democrat
and won the election, defeating incumbent John Scott
Harrison.
Groesbeck worked to prevent the approaching war with
the southern states. He was a member of the peace convention
of 1861 that was held in Washington, DC, to try to find
a way of avoiding war. Unsuccessful in that endeavor,
Groesbeck remained involved in Ohio state politics.
He served in the Ohio State Senate from 1862 to 1864.
After the Civil War ended, Groesbeck was appointed a
delegate to the Union National Convention at Philadelphia
in 1866.
Groesbeck gained national recognition when he served
as one of President Andrew Johnson's attorneys during
the impeachment trial in 1868. He had become a good
friend of Johnson's during the war, and the President
asked him to replace lawyer Jeremiah Black when Black
resigned. Like the other defense attorneys, he served
without fee and advised Johnson not to appear in person
at the trial. Groesbeck delivered the second closing
argument on April 25, and it has been known for its
brilliant delivery and eloquent passion. His speech
was praised in the national press and considered one
of the best moments of the defense. Johnson escaped
conviction and removal from office by one vote.
In 1872, Groesbeck ran unsuccessfully for President
as an Independent Liberal Republican candidate. The
1872 election was a particularly confusing one. President
Grant was running for re-election to his second term
in office as a Republican. However, the Republican Party
was experienced a major split as many who called themselves
Liberal Republicans criticized the harshness of Reconstruction
policies in general, and were otherwise dissatisfied
with the Grant administration in particular. Horace
Greeley, the eccentric and formerly radical Republican
editor of the New York Tribune, had unexpectedly become
outspoken against Reconstruction and fairly supportive
of the Southern states in general. The Democratic Party
was badly fractured and threw their support to Greeley.
However, he died before electoral votes could be cast,
and so the Democrats and Liberal Republicans cast votes
for multiple different candidates for both President
and Vice President. In the ensuing confusion, William
Groesbeck only received one electoral vote from the
state of Missouri. He did not run in any more elections
after that loss.
Groesbeck then turned his attention to international
affairs instead, and in 1878 became a United States
delegate to the International Monetary Conference in
Paris, France. Groesbeck died on July 7, 1897, in Cincinnati,
Ohio, and was buried in Spring Grove Cemetery.
Sources:
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Rootsweb Family Genealogy
Ohio History Central: An Online Encyclopedia of Ohio
History, Ohio Historical Society
History of the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson,
Chapter VIII-Avalon Project of Yale Law School
(http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/treatise/andrew_johnson/chap_08.htm)
Thomas and Gale Legal Encyclopedia (found on Answers.com)
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