#24 William Dennison

William Dennison

Born: November 23, 1815
Died: June 15, 1882
Political Party: Whig, Republican
Term of Office: January 9, 1860 - January 13, 1862
Buried: Greenlawn Cemetery Columbus, Ohio
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   William Dennison was born in Cincinnati to a successful businessman father. He attended Miami University. After college he studied law and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1840. He married the daughter of William Neil, a prominent Columbus businessman, who's farm sat on what is now Ohio State University.

   In 1848, Dennison was elected to a seat in the Ohio Senate as a member of the Whig Party. As a strong anti slavery advocate, he helped remove Ohio's "Black Laws". In 1850, he did not seek reelection. Through the 1850's Dennison served as president of the Exchange Bank in Columbus and later as president of the Columbus and Xenia railroad.

   As the Whig party died out, Dennison was an early member of the newly formed, anti slavery, Republican party. He was an Ohio delegate to the first Republican National Convention in 1856. He won election as Governor of Ohio in 1859. As Ohio's first Civil War Governor, he proved to be a capable leader, facing challenges that no previous Governor of Ohio ever had to face. He secured the railroads and telegraph lines for military use. He sent Ohio troops under the command of General George McCellan to fight Confederate forces in western Virginia. This eventually led to West Virginia entering the union as a free state. Despite Dennison's successful leadership at the onset of the Civil War, he lost reelection in 1861 to a Union party ticket led by David Tod. After his defeat, Dennison still served the state in an unofficial advisory capacity.

    Dennison remained active in Republican Party politics and served as chairman of the 1864 Republican National Convention. After Lincoln's reelection he appointed Dennison to the office of Postmaster General. He resigned as Postmaster General in 1866 after disagreements with President Andrew Johnson. Dennison later sought the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in 1880, but lost to James A. Garfield.

   Dennison remained active in politics, railroads and banking. He died in 1882 after a long illness.

Marker at the Dennison gravesite

Governor William Dennison gravesite. Greenlawn Cemetery Columbus, Ohio in 2010

Revisit to Governor Dennison's gravesite in 2017

My kids are starting to grow an interest in history and exploring old cemeteries. But there not always happy when I ask them to stand still for a picture. As a side note, the obelisk on the upper left corner of the picture is the gravesite of Reverend Thomas Woodrow, Grandfather and namesake of President Thomas Woodrow Wilson.

My kids and I at Governor Dennison's gravesite in 2017