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Schuyler Colfax Biography

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COLFAX, Schuyler (1823-85) An American statesman, born in New York City. He removed to Indiana in 1836, where he studied law, and in 1845 became editor of the Register, a Whig newspaper at South Bend, which under his management became the most powerful organ of its kind in that part of the State. He was a delegate to the Whig conventions of 1848 and 1852, and in 1850 he was a member of the State convention to revise the constitution. After a defeat in 1851 he was elected to Congress in 1854, served seven consecutive terms, and was Speaker from 1863 to 1869. He was Vice President of the United States from 1869 to 1873. In the John C. Fremont campaign of 1856 a speech made by him was used for party purposes, and half a million copies were distributed over the country. He introduced several important acts for the reform of the postal system, in which he took an especial interest, and in 1862 framed the law which made fraudulent contractors felons. Charges of corruption were brought against him at the time of the Crédit Mobilier (q.v.) scandal, in 1873, but the charges were never conclusively substantiated. His reputation suffered, however, and he retired from public life. Consult Hollister, Life of Schuyler Colfax (New York, 1886).