Reuben E. Fenton
| Reuben Eaton Fenton | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 33rd district |
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In office March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855 |
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| Preceded by | Augustus P. Hascall |
| Succeeded by | Francis S. Edwards |
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In office March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1863 |
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| Preceded by | Francis S. Edwards |
| Succeeded by | Nelson I. Norton |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 31st district |
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In office March 4, 1863 – December 20, 1864 |
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| Preceded by | Burt Van Horn |
| Succeeded by | Henry Van Aernam |
| 22nd Governor of New York | |
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In office January 1, 1865 – December 31, 1868 |
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| Lieutenant |
Thomas G. Alvord (1865–1866) Stewart L. Woodford (1867–1868) |
| Preceded by | Horatio Seymour |
| Succeeded by | John T. Hoffman |
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United States Senator from New York |
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In office March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1875 |
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| Preceded by | Edwin D. Morgan |
| Succeeded by | Francis Kernan |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
July 4, 1819 Carroll, New York, U.S. |
| Died | August 25, 1885 (aged 66) Jamestown, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
Reuben Eaton Fenton (July 4, 1819 – August 25, 1885) was an American merchant and politician from New York.
The son of a farmer, Fenton was born near Frewsburg, in Chautauqua County, New York. He was elected a colonel of the New York State Militia in 1840. He became a lumber merchant, but also studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1841. Fenton entered politics as a Democrat. He was Town Supervisor of Carroll from 1843 to 1850.
He was elected as a Democrat to the 33rd United States Congress, and served from March 4, 1853, to March 3, 1855. In his first term in Congress, Fenton strongly opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and unsuccessfully tried to persuade President Franklin Pierce and U.S. Secretary of State William L. Marcy to oppose the bill. He was defeated for re-election that year. He left the Democratic Party to help organize the Republican Party, and was later elected, as a Republican, to the 35th, 36th, 37th and 38th United States Congresses, and served from 1857 to 1865.
He was Governor of New York from 1865 to 1868, elected in 1864 and 1866. In 1868, he was among the candidates to be Vice President but the nomination went eventually to Schuyler Colfax. In January 1869, he was elected a U.S. Senator from New York and served from 1869 to 1875. In 1872 he was among the Republicans opposed to President Ulysses S. Grant who joined the short-lived Liberal Republican Party.
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