William Pitt Fessenden (October 16, 1806 – September 8, 1869) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Maine.
Fessenden was a Whig (later a Republican) and member of the Fessenden political family. He served in the United States House of Representatives and Senate before becoming Secretary of the Treasury under President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War.
Fessenden was born in Boscawen, New Hampshire. He graduated from Bowdoi...
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William Pitt Fessenden (October 16, 1806 – September 8, 1869) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Maine.
Fessenden was a Whig (later a Republican) and member of the Fessenden political family. He served in the United States House of Representatives and Senate before becoming Secretary of the Treasury under President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War.
Fessenden was born in Boscawen, New Hampshire. He graduated from Bowdoin College and became a lawyer, practicing with his father Samuel Fessenden, who was also a prominent anti-slavery activist. He was a founding member of the Maine Temperance Society in 1827. He served four non-consecutive terms in the Maine House of Representatives, and he was elected for one term in the United States House of Representatives. He was elected in 1854, with the support of Whigs and Anti-Slavery Democrats, to the U.S. Senate. Upon taking office, he immediately began speaking against the Kansas-Nebraska Act and participated in the...
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