(1279.) JAMES ADDISON CRAVENS (443.) (?). (12.) (2.) (1.):
Biog. Dict. Of the Am. Congress, p. 858 - James Addison Cravens (second cousin of James Harrison Cravens)., a Representative from Indiana; born in Rockingham Co., Va., November 4, 1818; moved with his father to Indiana in 1820 and settled near Hardinsburg, Madison Twp., Washington Co.; attended the public schools; engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock raising; served in the war with Mixico as major of the Second Indiana Volunteers in 1846 and 1847; member of the State senate 1850-1853; commissioned brigadier general of militia in 1854; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth Congresses (March 4, 1861 - March 3, 1865).; was not a candidate for renomination in 1868; resumed agricultural pursuits; died in Hardinsburg, in Hardinsburg, Washington Co., Indiana, June 20, 1893; interment in the Hardin Cemetery. (R103).
James Addison Cravens (November 4, 1818 – June 20, 1893) was a nineteenth century politician from Indiana . He was the second cousin of James Harrison Cravens.
Biography
Born in Rockingham County, Virginia , Cravens moved near Hardinsburg, Indiana with his father in 1820 where he attended public schools as a child. He engaged in agricultural pursuits and livestock raising, served in the Mexican-American War as Major (United States) of the 2nd Indiana Volunteer Regiment from 1846 to 1847 and was a member of the Indiana House of Representatives in 1848 and 1849. Cravens served in the Indiana Senate from 1850 to 1853, was commissioned a brigadier general in the Indiana Militia in 1854 and was elected a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives in 1860, serving from 1861 to 1865, not being a candidate for renomination in 1864. During the lame-duck session of the 38th Congress, he voted against the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery. He was a delegate to the National Union Convention in 1866 and to the Democratic National Convention in 1868. He resumed agricultural pursuits until his death in Hardinsburg, Indiana on June 20, 1893. He was interred in Hardin Cemetery in Hardinsburg.
The National Union Convention (also known as the Loyalist Convention, the Southern Loyalist Convention, the National Loyalists' Loyal Union Convention, or the Arm-In-Arm Convention) was held on August 14, 15, and 16 1866, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Convention
The convention was called in advance of the mid-year elections of 1866 in an attempt to help president Johnson, who was under heavy fire from both Radical Republicans and more moderate Republicans. Johnson's friends tried to rally support for the lenient, pro-South Reconstruction policies of U.S. President Andrew Johnson . The goal of creating a new political party was not realized.
Delegates gathered at a hastily-built temporary structure that was designed to accommodate the several thousand people expected to attend. Formally called "the Wigwam", this immense edifice was located on between 19th and 20th Streets, across from Philadelphia's Girard College. About 7,000 prominent politicians and activists attended the convention. At its opening, representatives from Massachusetts (General Darius Nash Couch) and South Carolina (Governor James Lawrence Orr paraded arm-in-arm to symbolize national reconciliation and social equity. The convention was called to order by U.S. Postmaster General Alexander Randall . General (and former New York Governor and Senator) John Adams Dix served as the temporary chairman and Wisconsin Senator James R. Doolittle served as permanent convention president.
In the end, the convention was not successful in unifying the country behind President Johnson. He then launched a speaking tour (known as the "Swing Around the Circle") hoping to regain public and political support. On this speaking tour, Johnson at times attacked his Republican_Party_(United_States) opponents with crude and abusive language and on several occasions appeared to have had too much to drink. Ultimately, the tour was a disaster for Johnson, emboldening the Congress to override him and to impeach him in 1868
CRAVENS MSS.
The Cravens mss., 1850-1872, consist of correspondence and papers of James Addison Cravens, 1818-1893, farmer, soldier, Indiana legislator, and U.S. congressman.
Career: born, November 4, 1818, Rockingham county, Virginia; son of John and Ann C. (Newman) Cravens; family migrated to Indiana in 1820 and settled near Hardinsburg in Washington county; attended public schools; engaged in agriculture and stock raising; married Susan Hardin, daughter of Aaron and Sarah (Leatherwood) Hardin; June, 1846, enlisted as a private in Company K, 2nd regiment, Indiana infantry, in Mexican War; rose to rank of major; discharged July, 1847; 1848-1849, member Indiana House of representatives; 1850- 1853, in Indiana state senate; 1844, commissioned a Brigadier general in the Indiana militia; 1861-1865, in U.S. Congress; resumed agricultural pursuits; 1866, delegate to Union national convention of conservatives at Philadelphia; 1868, 1876, 1880, 1884, delegate to National democratic conventions; June 20, 1893, died at Hardinsburg, Indiana; buried in Hardin cemetery.
The mss. in this collection fall principally in the years, 1861-1865, when Cravens was a member of Congress. They consist largely of letters from constituents, soldiers, and political figures, and relate in the main to national and state politics, the progress of the War, army hospitals, prisoners of war, appointments, postoffices and mail routes, bills before Congress, the distribution of free cotton seed and shrubs, and speaking engagements. Included are a letter of March 29, 1862, from Nathan Kimball to Cravens describing the Battle of Kernstown on March 23, 1862; a draft of an 1862 speech by Cravens relating to the confiscation of rebel property and the emancipation of the slaves; and a statistical "Distribution of [draft] quotas of Washington co., Ind.," 1864.
The collection also contains a few political letters and papers, 1850-1852, when Cravens was in the Indiana Senate; political and business letters, 1866-1872, at which time Cravens no longer held public office; and a scrapbook of newspaper clippings and other printed materials, 1884-1900, and undated.
Among the correspondents represented in the collection are John C. Albert, James S. Athon, George Augustus Bicknell, Schuyler Colfax, Thomas Leonidas Crittenden, Cyrus Livingston Dunham, Michael Crawford Kerr, Nathan Kimball, Henry Smith Lane, Charles Lanman, Abraham Lasher, John Law, John Irwin Morrison, Benjamin Newland, John B. Norman, and Caleb Blood Smith, John J. Hardin, W. Scott Whitman.
Collection size: 78 items
For more information about this collection and any related materials contact the Public Services Department, Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405. Call (812) 855-2452 or send an email using our Ask a Question form.
Source Information:
Edmund West, comp.. Family Data Collection - Marriages [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2001.
Description: The Family Data Collection - Marriages database was created while gathering genealogical data for use in the study of human genetics and disease.