John Creswell

Infobox US Cabinet official
name=John Angel James Creswell


order=23rd
title=United States Postmaster General
term_start=March 5, 1869
term_end=June, 1874
predecessor=Alexander W. Randall
successor=James W. Marshall
birth_date=birth date|1828|11|18|mf=y
birth_place=Creswells Ferry (now Port Deposit), Maryland, U.S.
death_date=death date and age|1891|12|23|1828|11|18
death_place=Elkton, Maryland, U.S.
party=Whig, Republican
spouse=
profession=Politician, Lawyer, Banker

John Angel James Creswell (November 18, 1828 – December 23, 1891) was an American politician from Maryland. He served as Postmaster General of the United States during the Grant administration.

Biography

Born in Creswells Ferry in what is today known as Port Deposit, Maryland, Creswell attended a local academy before moving on to Dickinson College where he graduated in 1848. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in Baltimore in 1850, commencing practice in Elkton, Maryland. He was an unsuccessful Whig candidate to the Reform State Convention in 1850 and was elected a member of the Maryland House of Delegates in 1861 after becoming affiliated with the Republican Party. Creswell served as adjutant general of Maryland from 1862 to 1863 and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1862, serving from 1863 to 1865. A staunch supporter of President Abraham Lincoln, Creswell is credited with being the first elected official in the United States government to propose a constitutional amendment banning slavery. After losing reelection to the House in 1864, he was elected to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Thomas H. Hicks, serving from 1865 until the end of that term in 1867. During his time in the Senate, he served as chairman of the Committee on the Library in the 39th Congress. At the Republican National Convention in 1868, Creswell's name was put forward for either the presidential or vice presidential nominations. After Ulysses S. Grant was elected, he appointed Creswell Postmaster General. As Postmaster General, he reorganized the Post Office Department, introduced penny postcards and postal telegraphs, proposed a postal savings system. Because of the scandals that plagued the Grant administration, Creswell resigned, but excepted the appointment of a United States counsel before the Alabama Claims Commission which he served as from 1874 to 1876. Afterwards, he resumed practicing law and served as the president of two banks. He died near Elkton, Maryland on December 23, 1891 and was interned in Elkton Presbyterian Cemetery.

References

* [http://nabbhistory.salisbury.edu/resources/wroten/wroten_jcreswell.html Creswell Credited With Keeping State From Seceding From Union - Delmarva Heritage Series]