John
Parker Hale was
born in Rochester, Stafford County, on 31st March, 1806. After graduating
from Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Hale studied law and was admitted
to the bar in 1830.
A radical member of the Democratic Party,
Hale was employed as a United States district attorney (1834-41).
Elected to the House of Representatives in 1842, Hale, with Joseph
Giddings became the leader of anti-slavery
movement in Congress. Later they were joined by William
Seward, Hannibal Hamlin, Salmon
Chase, Benjamin Wade and George
Julian. Hale also campaigned against flogging in the United
States Navy.
Hale was a member of the Liberty Party
before joining the Free Soil Party
in 1848. Four years later he became the party's presidential candidate
but he only 150,000 votes against the victor, Franklin
Pierce.
Hale returned to his work as a lawyer but after joining the Republican
Party he was elected to the Senate in 1855. He soon emerged as
one of the leaders of the group that became known as the Radical
Republicans.
In 1865 President Abraham Lincoln appointed
Hale as his Minister of Spain. He held the post until 1869 when he
returned to work in the United States. John Parker Hale died in Dover,
New Hampshire, on 19th November, 1873.
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