Robert C. Schenck

In 1824, Robert Schenck entered Miami University as a sophomore and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree with honors in 1827, but remained in Oxford, Ohio, employing his time in reading, and as tutor of French and Latin, until 1830, when he received the degree of Master of Arts.

He began to study law under Thomas Corwin and was admitted to the bar in 1831. He moved to Dayton, Ohio and there rose to a commanding position in his profession. He was in partnership with Joseph Halsey Crane in the firm of Crane and Schenck for many years.

On August 21, 1834, Schenck was married to Miss Renelsche W. Smith (1811–1849) at Nissequogue, Long Island, New York. Six children were born to the union, all girls. Three of them died in infancy. Three daughters survived him. His wife died of tuberculosis in 1849 in Dayton, Ohio.

His first foray into political life came in 1838 when he ran unsuccessfully for the State Legislature; he gained a term in 1841. In the Presidential campaign of 1840, he acquired the reputation of being one of the ablest speakers on the Whig side. He was elected to the United States Congress from his district in 1843, and re-elected in 1845, 1847 (when he was chairman of the Committee on Roads and Canals) and 1849. His first conspicuous work was to help repeal the gag rule that had long been used to prevent antislavery petitions being read on the floor of the house. He opposed the Mexican–American War as a war of aggression to further slavery.

He declined re-election in 1851, and, in March 1851, was appointed by President Millard Fillmore, Minister to Brazil and also accredited to Uruguay, Argentine Confederation, and Paraguay. He was directed by the Government to visit Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and Asunción, and make treaties with the republics around the Río de la Plata and its tributaries. Several treaties were concluded with these governments by which the United States gained advantages never accorded to any European nation. The Democratic victory in 1852 caused the treaty of commerce with Uruguay to fail to be ratified by the United States Senate.

In 1854, Schenck returned to Ohio, and though sympathizing generally in the views of the Republican party, his personal antipathy to John C. Fremont was so strong, that he took no part in the election. He was building up a lucrative law practice, and was also President of the Fort Wayne Western Railroad Company. He became more in sympathy with the Republican party, and, in September 1859, Schenck delivered a speech in Dayton regarding the growing animosity within the country. In this speech, Schenck recommended that the Republican Party nominate Abraham Lincoln for the presidency.

This was, perhaps, the first public endorsement of Lincoln for the presidency. He supported Lincoln with great ardor at the Chicago Convention in 1860 and in the campaign that followed.

On June 17, 1861, Union Army Maj. Gen. Irvin McDowell sent the 1st Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment (90–day) under the overall command of Schenck and the immediate command of Col. Alexander McDowell McCook to expand the Union position in Fairfax County, Virginia. Schenck took six companies over the Alexandria, Loudon and Hampshire Railroad line, dropping off detachments to guard railroad bridges between Alexandria, Virginia and Vienna, Virginia. As the train approached Vienna, about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Fairfax Court House and 15 miles (24 km) from Alexandria, 271 officers and men remained with the train. On the same day, Confederate States Army Col. Maxcy Gregg took the 6–month 1st South Carolina Infantry Regiment, about 575 men, two companies of cavalrymen (about 140 men) and a company of artillery with two artillery pieces (35 men), about 750 men in total, on a scouting mission from Fairfax Court House toward the Potomac River. On their return trip, at about 6:00 p.m., the Confederates heard the train whistle in the distance. Gregg moved his artillery pieces to a curve in the railroad line near Vienna and placed his men around the guns. Seeing this disposition, an elderly local Union sympathizer ran down the tracks to warn the approaching train of the hidden Confederate force. The Union officers mostly ignored his warning and the train continued down the track. In the only response to the warning, an officer was placed on the forward car as a lookout.

Schenck was unfit for field duty for six months, but was assigned to the command of VIII Corps, embracing the turbulent citizens of Maryland, repressing all turbulence and acts of disloyalty or any complicity with treason. Schenck was not popular with the disloyal portion of the inhabitants of Maryland. In December 1863, he resigned his commission to take his seat in Congress.

Failing re-election by just fifty-three votes in 1870, Schenck was appointed by President Ulysses Grant as Minister to the United Kingdom, and he sailed for England in July 1871. As a member on the Alabama Claims Commission, he took part in settling the claims arising from the exploits of Raphael Semmes and his Confederate raider. In his book History of Monetary Systems, historian Alexander Del Mar intimates on p. 488 and 489 that Schenck was instrumental in passing a bill denominating currency in only gold, whereas it had been previously redeemable in silver, as well. This is significant as it relates to the panic of 1873.

In October 1871, Schenck was paid for the use of his name in the sale of stock in England for the Emma Silver Mine, near Alta, Utah, and became a director of the mining company. Seeing the American minister's name connected with it, British people invested heavily. The Emma mine paid large dividends for a brief time while company insiders sold their shares, but then share prices crashed when it was learned that the mine was exhausted. Schenck was blamed and was ordered home for investigation. He resigned his post in the spring of 1875. A congressional investigation in March 1876 concluded that he was not guilty of wrongdoing but that he had shown very bad judgment in lending his name and office to promote any such scheme.[1]

Schenck died in Washington, D.C., on March 23, 1890, aged 80, and was interred in Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio.