Rodney French

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Rodney French electoral history

1852 General Election for the United House of Representatives, Massachusetts's 1st congressional district [12]

  • Zeno Scudder (W) – 5,095 (49.7%)
  • John Pierce (D) – 1,905 (28.6%)
  • Rodney French (FS) – 1,801 (21.7%)

1852 New Bedford Mayoral Election [11]

  • William J. Rotch – 875 (71.0%)
  • Rodney French – 357 (29.0%)

1853 New Bedford Mayoral Election [11]

  • Rodney French – 1,052 (50.7%)
  • William J. Rotch – 1,022 (49.3%)

1854 New Bedford Mayoral Election [11]

  • Rodney French – 1,581 (54.1%)
  • Willard Nye – 1,340 (45.0%)

1855 New Bedford Mayoral Election [11]

  • George Howland Jr. – 1,836 (72.0%)
  • Rodney French – 715 (28.0%)

1856 New Bedford Mayoral Election [11]

  • George Howland Jr. – 1,382 (50.5%)
  • Rodney French – 1,352 (49.5%)

1864 New Bedford Mayoral Election [11]

  • George Howland Jr. – 1,349 (60.9%)
  • Rodney French – 867 (39.1%)

1878 General Election for the United House of Representatives, Massachusetts's 1st congressional district [12]

  • William W. Crapo (R) – 12,575 (62.3%)
  • Matthias Ellis (D) – 7,383 (36.6%)
  • Rodney French (P) – 219 (1.1%)

1880 General Election for the United House of Representatives, Massachusetts's 1st congressional district [12]

  • William W. Crapo (R) – 16,384 (69.9%)
  • Charles G. Davis (D) – 6,669 (28.4%)
  • Whitman Chace (G) – 150 (0.6%)
  • Rodney French (P) – 126 (0.5%)
  • Henry B. Maglathhia (I) – 117 (0.5%)

Commodore of the Stone Fleet

In November 1861, French was the leader of the "Stone Fleet", a volunteer squadron of twelve ships that sailed from New Bedford to the Charleston Harbor with the intent on sinking their ships their to form a blockade. French was elected leader by his fellow captains and took the title of "Commodore of the Stone Fleet". [8] French's ship, the Garland, was the last to arrive because French took a coastal route while the other ships sailed offshore and held a good wind. The ships were sunk on December 19 and 20, 1861. [8] [15] Upon his return, French showed off a number of "relics" he had retrieved from the South, including shells, shots, and pieces of a palmetto tree. [8]

Business career

A merchant and trader, French, along with Charles D. Burt, owned New Bedford's only chandlery store. [16] He also owned a successful gold mine near Black Hawk, Colorado. French ran the mine himself for some time before leasing it out. [17]

In 1853, a R. G. Dun & Company credit report described French as a "ranting politician" who "owes everybody". [8]

Death

French died on April 30, 1882. [18] Point Road, which opened to the public during French's tenure as mayor, was renamed French Avenue and later Rodney French Boulevard. Ironically, the road that now bears French's name was conceived and advocated by Andrew Robeson, the son-in-law of Samuel Rodman and a member of the city's wealthy merchant class that disliked French. [10] [19]

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References

  1. 1 2 Journal of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 1870. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  2. 1 2 The New England Historical & Genealogical Register: Volume XXII. The New England Historical & Genealogical Society. 1868. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Grover, Kathryn (2001). The Fugitive's Gibraltar: Escaping Slaves and Abolitionism in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press. ISBN   9781558492714 . Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  4. The New-Bedford Directory. 1836. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  5. Finkelman, Paul (2006). Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619-1895: From the Colonial Period to the Age of Frederick Douglass. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780195167771 . Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  6. Pease, Zephaniah W., ed. (1918). "XXVI". History of New Bedford, Volume 3. New York: The Lewis Historical Publishing Company. pp. 267–270. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  7. Pease, Zephaniah W., ed. (1918). "XXXV". History of New Bedford, Volume 3. New York: The Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 188. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Mulderink III, Earl F. (2012). New Bedford's Civil War. Fordham University Press. ISBN   9780823243341 . Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  9. Snodgrass, Mary Ellen (2015). The Underground Railroad: An Encyclopedia of People, Places, and Operations. Routledge. ISBN   9781317454168.
  10. 1 2 Pease, Zephaniah W., ed. (1918). "XXVII". History of New Bedford, Volume 3. New York: The Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 192. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pease, Zephaniah W., ed. (1918). "XXXVI". History of New Bedford, Volume 3. New York: The Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 276. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Dubin, Michael J. (March 1, 1998). United States Congressional Elections, 1788-1997: The Official Results of the Elections of the 1st Through 105th Congresses. McFarland and Company. ISBN   978-0786402830.
  13. Druett, Joan (2001). Petticoat Whalers: Whaling Wives at Sea, 1820-1920. UPNE. ISBN   978-1-58465-159-8.
  14. Boss, Judith A.; Thomas, Joseph D. (1983). New Bedford, a Pictorial History. Donning Company.
  15. Spears, John R. (1908). The Story of the New England Whalers. New York: The MacMillan Company. p.  392 . Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  16. Pease, Zephaniah W., ed. (1918). "XLIV". History of New Bedford, Volume 3. New York: The Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 352. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  17. Fossett, Frank (1876). Colorado: A Historical, Descriptive and Statistical Work on the Rocky Mountain Gold and Silver Mining Region. 1876: Daily Tribune Steam Printing House. p.  239 . Retrieved May 28, 2015.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  18. Reunion of the Free Soilers of 1848. Free Soil Party (Mass). 1877. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  19. Pease, Zephaniah W., ed. (1918). "XXXI". History of New Bedford, Volume 3. New York: The Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 241. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
Rodney French
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from the 12th Bristol district
In office
1869–1870