George V. N. Lothrop
{{Short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = George Van Ness Lothrop
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| honorific-suffix =
| image = George Van Ness Lothrop portrait circa 1910.jpg
| relatives = Edwin H. Lothrop, brother
| smallimage =
| alt =
| caption =
| order =
| office = Michigan Attorney General
| term_start = 1848
| term_end = 1851
| governor = Epaphroditus Ransom
John S. Barry
| predecessor = Edward Mundy
| successor = William Hale
| alma_mater = Brown University
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1817|8|8}}
| birth_place = Easton, Massachusetts
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1897|7|12|1817|8|8}}
| death_place = Detroit, Michigan
| nationality = American
| resting_place = Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit
| party = Democrat
}}
George Van Ness Lothrop (August 8, 1817 – July 12, 1897) was a politician in the U.S. state of Michigan, serving as the seventh Michigan Attorney General from 1848 until 1851 and US ambassador to Russia.
Biography
Lothrop was born in Easton, Massachusetts, the son of Howard Lothrop and Sally (Williams) Lothrop. George grew up on the family farm in Easton. George's sister Sarah married Oliver Ames Jr., a railroad industrialist.{{cite book|last1=Davis|first1=William T.|title=The New England states, their constitutional, judicial, educational, commercial, professional and industrial history|date=1897|publisher=D.H. Hurd & Co.|page=[https://archive.org/details/newenglandstates01davi/page/390 390]|edition=Vol 1|url=https://archive.org/details/newenglandstates01davi|access-date=20 February 2016}}
George studied for one year at Amherst College, and graduated from Brown University in 1838. He started law school at Harvard College, but didn't finish due to ill health. He was a member of Alpha Delta Phi and Phi Beta Kappa.
He moved to live on his brother Edwin's farm in Prairie Ronde, Michigan, to recover.{{cite book|last1=Hall|first1=Henry|title=America's Successful Men of Affairs|date=1896|publisher=New York Tribune|page=[https://archive.org/details/americassuccessf01hallrich/page/511 511]|url=https://archive.org/details/americassuccessf01hallrich|access-date=2 June 2014}}
In 1843, Lothrop moved to Detroit to finish his law studies, and found success as a lawyer. Lothrop was married in 1847 to Almira Strong of Rochester, New York.
Lothrop was a candidate for U.S. Representative from Michigan's 1st congressional district, losing to Republican William Alanson Howard in 1856 and to Bradley F. Granger in 1860. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention from Michigan in 1860 and a delegate to the Michigan State Constitutional convention in 1867 (which did not produce a constitution approved by the voters). Lothrop served as U.S. Minister to Russia from 1885 to 1888.
He died on July 12, 1897, in Detroit of hyperthermia.{{cite news |title=George V.N. Lothrop Dead. Ex-Minister to Russia Succumbs to Heat Prostration at His Home. in Detroit |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F06E3D71230E333A25750C1A9619C94669ED7CF |newspaper=New York Times |access-date=2015-01-02 }} He is interred Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit.
Family
Lothrop's brother, Edwin H. Lothrop, was Speaker of the Michigan State House of Representatives in 1844. Lothrop's daughter, Emily Anne "Nan" Lothrop (1860–1927), married Baron Barthold Theodorevitch von Hoyningen-Huene (1859–1942), a Baltic nobleman and military officer, and their son was the noted fashion photographer George Hoyningen-Huene. His daughter Elizabeth, a noted fashion designer, His brother-in-law, Oliver Ames Jr., was affiliated with the Union Pacific Railroad.
Memorials
A Michigan historical marker on Charlevoix Avenue in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, commemorates a stand of pine trees that Lothrop planted on the site in 1878. These trees became the "feeder stock" for many of the pine groves that are now widespread in the eastern suburbs of Detroit. The street just across Charlevoix Avenue from the pine plantation is named Lothrop Road in his honor.
External links
- {{Find a Grave|28041868}}
- [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/lordell-lotus.html#RJP0OW4H6 The Political Graveyard]
References
{{Reflist}}
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{{succession box | before=Edward Mundy | title=Michigan Attorney General| years=1848–1851 | after= William Hale }}
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{{US Ambassadors to Russia}}
{{Attorneys-General of Michigan}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lothrup, George V. N.}}
Category:Michigan attorneys general
Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Russia
Category:Brown University alumni
Category:Deaths from hyperthermia
Category:Burials at Elmwood Cemetery (Detroit)
Category:People from Easton, Massachusetts