Charles Edwin Monroe

Notes:

Charles was enrolled in the preparatory department of Oberlin College 1870-1773. He entered Oberlin as a freshman in 1873 and graduated in 1877 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. When the Oberlin chapter of Phi Beta Kappa Society was established in 1907, he was one of three members of his class elected to membership.

He received the degree of Bachelor of Laws from Michigan in 1880, and began the practice of law in Elyria, Ohio that year. From 1882-1884, he practiced in the Court of Alabama Claims in Washington, D.C.

In 1884, he settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and continued the practice of law in that city until his retirement in 1930. He was admitted to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court in 1885. From 1889 to 1897, he served as Secretary and Chief Examiner of the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission, and in 1895, he was made Secretary and Chief Examiner of the Milwaukee City Service Commission.

Charles joined the First Congregational Church in Oberlin in 1870 and joined the Plymouth congregational Church in Milwaukee in Sep 1886.

For the last six years of his life in Milwaukee, he was attorney for the Protestant Home for the Aged. He was a trust officer in the National Exchange Bank.

Early in life, he became greatly interested in Botany and Geology and was regarded as an authority in their local aspects, writing valuable papers on botanical subjects and gathering a large botanical collection which he presented to the Public Museum of Milwaukee.

He married Marie Jussen in 1924 when he was 67 years old. She was the daughter of Edmund Jussen and a niece of the famous educator and reformer, Carl Schurz. She spent a good deal of her young life abroad where her father was in the American diplomatic service in Germany and Austria. She studied law and became a prominant attorney in Chicago, Illinois. After her marriage, Marie moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin with Charles. She died in the Allen Hospital after a long illness. She was a member of First Church. They had no children.

Charles and his wife moved to Oberlin, Ohio in the spring of 1930. His health gradually failed and he died of heart failure at his home on Forest Street on 12 May 1931.

He was well-read, upright, just, and incorruptible. In his final illness, he maintained his courage and cheerfulness and was always the perfect gentleman, more considerate for others than for himself.

Ref: Clan Munro files - Guilford, Dr. Joan S.

Charles married Marie Jussen on 29 Nov 1924 in Chicago, Cook Co., Illinois, USA. Marie was born on 12 Sep 1861 in Watertown, Jefferson Co., Wisconsin, USA; died on 4 May 1947 in Oberlin, Lorain Co., Ohio, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

James was a man of thought and a man of action. A scholar and teacher, legislator and ambassador, he spent his life serving the abolitionist cause, his country, and Oberlin College.

James was well-educated in both public and private schools and began teaching in the public schools at the age of fourteen.

In 1841, after attending a meeting of the Connecticut State Anti-Slavery Society he became convinced to postpone his plans for college and begin giving lectures for the Society. During the next two to three years, he delivered several hundred addresses on the lecture circuit. His antislavery efforts provided him with frequent contact with the most prominent eastern abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Charles Burleigh, Alvan Stewart, William Godell, and Frederick Douglass. In his autobiography, Douglass recalled that James was one of the few white abolitionists who also worked against Northern racism.

In 1844, James left the lecture circuit because of poor health and entered Oberlin College. He served there as an assistant teacher and tutor between 1845 and 1848. He earned his A.B. degree in 1846 and his theology degree in 1849. At the 1846 Commencement, James delivered an address entitled "Moral Heroism". His speech, a defense of abolitionists, prompted the "Cleveland Herald" to write that the young graduate was destined to "leave the impress of his own mind and genius upon the age."

In 1849, he became pastor of a Congregational Church in Sandusky, Ohio, but after six months in Sandusky, he was offered the position of professor of Rehetoric and Belles Lettres at Oberlin, which he quickly accepted. At Oberlin, he was also engaged in fund-raising for the college.

His political views evolved over the years and he finally made a break with his Garrisonian past and became an advocate of the Liberty party. He gradually embraced the Free-Soil ideology and accepted the more moderate goal of containment of slavery rather than outright abolition. In 1852, he endorsed the Free-Soil ticket before joining the ranks of the newly created Republican party.

In 1851 and 1853, James was approached by the Free-Soil party to run for the state legislature. He declined both times, but did accept the Republican nomination in 1855 and won easily winning close to 90% of the popular vote. He retained his professorship since the legislature met only briefly at the start of each year when classes were not in session. In 1859, he was elected to the Ohio Senate, and served as president pro-tempore in 1861 and 1862. During his seven years in the state legislature, James developed an impressive record of reform legislation including protection for escaped slaves and school system reform. His advocacy of black suffrage raised the ire of women suffragists in Oberlin who were disgusted that he was willing to strike "white" and not "male" from qualifications to vote.

During the 1850's, James took a more active role in the abolition of slavery. In Dec 1859, he went to Virginia in an effort to recover the body of John Copeland, the black Oberlin resident who was executed for his part in John Brown's failed raid on Harper's Ferry. He was persuaded to make this attempt by Copeland's father, who was prevented from going because Virginia law forbade the admission of free blacks. John received a hostile reaction in Virginia and was forced to return to Oberlin without the body which was never recovered.

James campaigned hard for Lincoln in 1860, delivering more than thirty speeches. The Republicans won a huge victory in Oberlin and a majority in Ohio. James was reelected to the state legislature in 1861.

The sudden death of James' wife, Elizabeth, in 1862 cast him into a state of depression. Seeking a change of scenery, he sought and secured the consulship to Rio de Janeiro. In that position during the Civil War, he provided for the crews of captured ships which were put ashore in Brazil, and gathered information about Confederate cruisers which prowled the South Atlantic preying on shipping. This information aided the Department of State in pressing claims for damage in the final adjustment with Great Britain.

At the conclusion of the Civil War, James was offered the presidency of Oberlin College, but he declined and remained as Consul in Rio where he helped provide for destitute American emigres, many of whom left the South in search of new opportunities. After briefly serving as Charge d'Affaires ad interim, James resigned his post and returned to New York on 25 Sep 1869.

Upon returning to Oberlin, he resumed his political career and in Oct 1870, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the 19th Ohio district. He served for ten years from 4 Mar 1871 to 4 Mar 1881 when he declined renomination. During that time he served on the Banking and Currency Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Appropriations Committee and was chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor. He was a solid backer of Republican policies and a defender of human rights and national economic stability.

James was a long-time friend of President James A. Garfield and was about to be appointed to a post in the diplomatic service when Garfield was assasinated in 1881. An offer of the presidency at Ohio State University likewise failed to materialize. In the fall of 1883, James accepted a newly endowed chair in Political Science and International Law and resumed his teaching career offering courses in political economy and modern history.

He continued teaching until 1896 when, at the age of 75, he retired. He was still in demand performing community service and delivering speeches. In 1897, he published a volume of his speeches and addresses in the book "Oberlin Thursday Lectures, Addresses and Essays". He also managed to continue leading a large adult Bible class in the First Congregational Church.

He died at his home in Oberlin on 7 Jun 1898. The city mourned the loss of one of its most famous citizens by closing businesses and lowering flags to half mast.

James' first wife was the daughter of Louisa Maxwell. His second wife was the daughter of Charles Grandison Finney, second president of Oberlin College, and his wife Lydia Root Andrews.

Ref: Clan Munro files - Yard, Prof. F. L. Dixon
- Guilford, Dr. Joan S.
"The Monroe Book" by Dr. Joan S. Guilford - Ohio Unconnected Monroes

James married Elizabeth Maxwell on 19 Jan 1847 in Richland Co., Ohio, USA. Elizabeth was born on 14 Aug 1825 in Mansfield, Richland Co., Ohio, USA; died on 20 Feb 1862 in Oberlin, Lorain Co., Ohio, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Job and his wife were of the Quaker faith. Phebe was the daughter of Abel and Mary Collins. He was a lawyer and later a farmer.

Ref: Clan Munro files - Yard, Prof. F. L. Dixon
Guilford, Dr. Joan S.

Job married Phoebe Collins in 1819. Phoebe was born about 1788; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Birth:
Estimate: This birth date is an estimate based on the birth dates of nearest relatives or contemporaries, or based on other clues such as christening date, marriage date, birth order, etc.

Notes:

The Munro reference says John was born in "Rehoboth, Bristol Co., MA/RI".

The name of John's wife may have been Bethany Cornell. One reference says they married on 20 Jun 1782, and he may have had an earlier marriage. Parthenia was the daughter of Gideon and Hepzibah (Lewis) Cornell.

John served in the Revolutionary War from Rehoboth, Massachusetts 1 May 1778 to 1 Jan 1779 in Captain Jacob Fuller's Company, Colonel John Jacob's Regiment in Rhode Island.

He moved to Plainfield, Connecticut where he was a member of the Legislature. He became a Quaker after the war.

At his death, his estate was worth $417.55 but he may have given away much to his children before that. His wife's will was proved in 1835. She left $1 each to her sons Job and Cornell, $130 to Samuel and the rest to her daughters.

Ref: Clan Munro files - Brown, Thelma
- Yard, Prof. F. L. Dixon
- Bowers, Dr. Nancy Brooker
- Guilford, Dr. Joan S.
- Munro, John Quincy - John Munro family group record

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

John married Parthenia Cornell on 14 Nov 1782 in Rehoboth, Bristol Co., Massachusetts, USA. Parthenia was born on 6 Jan 1758 in Swansea, Bristol Co., Massachusetts, USA; died on 4 Nov 1834 in Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA