Alexander Hugh Holmes Stuart
| Alexander Hugh Holmes Stuart | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 3rd United States Secretary of the Interior | |
|
In office September 14, 1850 – March 7, 1853 |
|
| President |
Millard Fillmore Franklin Pierce |
| Preceded by | Thomas M. T. McKennan |
| Succeeded by | Robert McClelland |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 17th district |
|
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In office March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843 |
|
| Preceded by | Robert Craig |
| Succeeded by | District eliminated |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 2, 1807 Staunton, Virginia, US |
| Died | February 13, 1891 (aged 83) Staunton, Virginia, US |
| Political party | Whig |
| Spouse(s) | Frances Baldwin Stuart |
| Children | Briscoe Baldwin Stuart Alexander H.H. Stuart, Jr. Archibald Gerard Stuart Eleanor Augusta Stuart Frances Peyton Stuart Mary Stuart Susan Baldwin "Susie" Stuart Margaret Briscoe Stuart |
| Alma mater |
College of William & Mary University of Virginia |
| Profession | Politician, Lawyer |
Alexander Hugh Holmes Stuart (April 2, 1807 – February 13, 1891) was a U.S. political figure. Stuart served as the Secretary of the Interior between 1850 and 1853.
Stuart was born in Staunton, Virginia, to judge Archibald Stuart, a third-generation American of Scots-Irish origin and his wife Eleanor (nee Briscoe), of distant English ancestry.
Stuart attended the College of William and Mary and graduated from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Stuart then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1828.
Stuart was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1836 to 1839 and then elected as a Whig to the 27th Congress. Stuart lost the election to the 28th Congress.
From 1850, Stuart served as United States Secretary of the Interior under Millard Fillmore for three years. The department had a culture of political patronage. Stuart didn't change this, but at least gave rules and standards to the political appointments and removed some of the administrative chaos inherent with patronage.
Stuart then served in the Virginia Senate from 1857 through 1861 and was a member of the Virginia state secession convention in 1861. As the Confederacy was established and the United States divided into two hostile camps, both sides moved steadily toward open conflict. A special delegation, composed of Stuart, William B. Preston and George W. Randolph, travelled to Washington, D.C. where they met President Abraham Lincoln on April 12. Finding the President firm in his resolve to hold the Federal forts then in the South, the three men returned to Richmond, Virginia on April 15. Stuart was a delegate to the National Convention of Conservatives at Philadelphia in 1866, and Stuart presented credentials as a Member-elect to the 39th Congress in 1865 but was not admitted.
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