Marsh Giddings

Giddings was born in Sherman, Connecticut, to William and Jane (Ely) Giddings, who moved to Kalamazoo County, Michigan when he was 13. In 1834, he entered Western Reserve college (which later became part of Case Western Reserve University), at Hudson, Ohio, but did not finish. When he was 21 he was elected as a Justice of the Peace for Richland Township, Kalamazoo County, Michigan. In 1836, he married Louisa Mills.

Giddings was elected as a member of the Michigan State House of Representatives from Kalamazoo County in 1849. He served as a probate judge in Michigan, 1860–68; a Presidential Elector for Michigan, 1864; a member of the Republican National Committee from Michigan, 1866–70; a delegate to Michigan state constitutional convention, 1867; and a delegate to Republican National Convention from Michigan in 1868.[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/giddey-gilberson.html#RMP0TPM2T "Giddings, Marsh (1816-1875)" The Political Graveyard]

U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant nominated Giddings to be consul-general of the United States at Calcutta, India, 1870,

[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llej&fileName=019/llej019.db&recNum=512&itemLink=r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(ej019106)):%230190513&linkText=1 Journal of the executive proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America, 1869-1871 Friday, July 8, 1870, page 513]

[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(ej02034)) Journal of the executive proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America, 1871-1873 Monday, May 22, 1871, page 98] as part of his patronage based spoils system. Giddings was paid, but never left Michigan.

Jauhri, R.C. (1970) American Diplomacy and Independence for India Vora, Bombay, {{ISBN|0-8426-0223-2}} Some biographical sketches indicate that Giddings declined to go to India due to concerns about his health.[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/lhbum:@field(DOCID+@lit(lhbum5298ddiv211)) "Marsh Giddings" Historical collections. Volume 11. Collections and researches made by the Michigan pioneer and historical society pp. 300-303]{{Citation

| last =Bingham

| first =Stephen D.

| title =Early History of Michigan

| place=Lansing

| publisher =Thorp & Godfrey

| year =1888

| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=st4iAAAAMAAJ&q=Marsh+Giddings&pg=PA288}} p. 288

Grant then nominated Giddings as Governor of New Mexico Territory, after Willard Warner had declined that post.

[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(ej02040)): Journal of the executive proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America, 1871-1873 Wednesday, December 6, 1871, page 116]

Giddings took up his duties at the end of August 1871, although he was not confirmed by the United States Senate until later that December.

Giddings was appalled by the violence and lawlessness in the territory. His first day in office he was confronted by a riot in Mesilla. When he requested troops to put down lawlessness in Cimarron, he was told that troops could be used in civil affairs only by a request from a U.S. Marshall or by orders from the president.[http://www.santafetrailresearch.com/fort-union-nm/fu-oliva-7a.html "Note 112" "Chapter Seven: The Third Fort Union: Construction and Military Operations, Part Two (1869-1891)" Fort Union: Historic Resource Study Letter: Devin to AAG Dept. of the Missouri, Feb. 25, 1875, TS, DNM, USAC, RG 393; and Williams to Devin, Feb. 25, 1875, TR, DNM, USAC, RG 393] The Lincoln County Wars started during his tenure, but he didn’t have the resources to suppress the lawlessness in southern New Mexico either. In January 1874 the best he could do was to offer a reward of $500 for the arrest of those cowboys who had shot up a Hispanic dance in Lincoln murdering four men, the seminal event starting the wars.[http://www.westernoutlaw.com/stories/files/Texas_Ranger_NO_Reynolds.pdf Parsons, Chuck (2005) "Texas Ranger N.O. Reynolds: From the Horrells to Sam Bass" WOLA Journal pp. 15-19, p. 16] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070124113926/http://www.westernoutlaw.com/stories/files/Texas_Ranger_NO_Reynolds.pdf |date=2007-01-24 }}

Giddings died in office, and Territorial Secretary William G. Ritch acted as governor for about two months until the inauguration of Samuel Beach Axtell.[https://books.google.com/books?id=o93x7aq3GW4C&pg=PA199 Prince, L. Bradford (1912) A Concise History of New Mexico Torch Press, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, p. 199] [http://worldcat.org/oclc/8570421 OCLC 8570421] Giddings was a Congregationalist,{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20051129004639/http://www.adherents.com/largecom/fam_cong_politicians.html "U.S. Congregationalist Politicians" Famous Adherents]}} and even though he died in Santa Fe, New Mexico his body was shipped back to Michigan and he was buried at the Mountain Home Cemetery in Kalamazoo.

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{{Governors of New Mexico}}

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Category:1816 births

Category:1875 deaths

Category:Case Western Reserve University alumni

Category:Governors of New Mexico Territory

Category:Michigan state court judges

Category:Republican Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives

Category:Politicians from Kalamazoo, Michigan

Category:American Congregationalists

Category:New Mexico Republicans

Category:19th-century American judges

Category:19th-century members of the Michigan Legislature