Editing Alpheus Felch

{{Short description|American judge and politician}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=  Alpheus Felch
|image=Alpheus Felch 2.jpg
|caption=
|office1=[[United States Senator]]<br/>from [[Michigan]]
|term_start1=March 4, 1847
|term_end1=March 3, 1853
|predecessor1=[[William Woodbridge]]
|successor1=[[Charles E. Stuart]]
|order2= 5th
|office2= Governor of Michigan
|term_start2= January 5, 1846
|term_end2= March 3, 1847
|lieutenant2= William L. Greenly
|predecessor2= [[John S. Barry]]
|successor2= [[William L. Greenly]]
|office3=[[Michigan Auditor General]]
|term3=1842
|governor3=[[John S. Barry]]
|preceded3=[[Eurotus P. Hastings]]
|succeeded3=[[Henry L. Whipple]]
|office4=Member of the [[Michigan House of Representatives]]
|term4=1835–1837
|birth_date= {{birth date|1804|9|28}}
|birth_place= [[Limerick, Maine|Limerick, Massachusetts]]<br/>(now Limerick, Maine, US)
|death_date= {{death date and age|1896|6|13|1804|9|28}}
|death_place= [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]], US
|spouse= Lucretia W. Lawrence (4 children)
|party=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|alma_mater=[[Bowdoin College]]
|signature = Signature of Alpheus Felch (1804–1896).png
}}

'''Alpheus Felch''' (September 28, 1804{{spaced ndash}}June 13, 1896) was the fifth [[governor of Michigan]] and [[U.S. Senator]] from [[Michigan]].

==Early life==
Felch was born in [[Limerick, Maine|Limerick]] (in modern-day [[Maine]], then a part of [[Massachusetts]]). He was left an orphan at the age of three and lived with his grandfather Abijah Felch, a veteran of the [[American Revolution]]. He attended [[Phillips Exeter Academy]] in [[Exeter, New Hampshire]], and graduated from [[Bowdoin College]], [[Brunswick, Maine]], in 1827. He studied law and was admitted to the [[bar association|bar]] in [[Bangor, Maine]],<ref name=acab>{{Appletons'|wstitle=Felch, Alpheus|year=1900|inline=1}}</ref> and practiced in [[Houlton, Maine]], from 1830 to 1833.

==Political career==
Felch moved to [[Monroe, Michigan]], in 1833 and continued the practice of law. In 1835 he was the aid-de-camp to General Joseph Brown during the mustering of troops for the Ohio–Michigan Boundary Dispute (the [[Toledo War]]). He was elected three times to the [[Michigan State House of Representatives]], serving from  1835 to 1837. He was appointed state bank commissioner in 1838 and resigned in 1839. As bank commissioner, he did much to expose frauds which had been made possible by a general [[wildcat banking]] law which he had opposed, and which was afterward declared unconstitutional by the [[Michigan Supreme Court]].<ref name=acab /> He was state auditor general for a few weeks in 1842 before being appointed associate justice of the Michigan Supreme Court in 1842, where he served until his resignation in 1845, after being elected governor. He served as [[Governor of Michigan]] from 1846 to 1847 and during those fourteen months, state statutes were amended and the state capital was relocated to [[Lansing, Michigan|Lansing]].

Felch resigned as governor on March 3, 1847, after being elected by the Michigan legislature as a [[U.S. Democratic Party|Democrat]] to the [[United States Senate]]. He served in the [[30th United States Congress|30th]], [[31st United States Congress|31st]] and [[32nd United States Congress|32nd]] Congresses, from March 4, 1847 to March 3, 1853. In the U.S. Senate, he was chairman of the committee on public lands for four years.<ref name=acab />

In March 1853, he was appointed by U.S. President [[Franklin Pierce]] to the [[Public Land Commission|land claims commission for California]] to settle Spanish and [[Mexico|Mexican]] land claims arising from the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]] which ended the [[Mexican–American War]] and served as president of the commission until 1856. He returned to live in [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]], that year and made an unsuccessful attempt at a non-consecutive term as governor against the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] incumbent [[Kinsley S. Bingham]]. He resumed his law career and served as the Tappan Professor of Law at the [[University of Michigan]] from 1879 to 1883.

==Death and legacy==
[[File:Alpheus Felch grave Forest Hill Cemetery.JPG|thumb|175px|left|Felch grave]]
He died at his home in [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]] at the age of 91, and is interred at [[Forest Hill Cemetery (Ann Arbor, Michigan)|Forest Hill Cemetery]] along with his wife, Lucretia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Bar Association's Action {{!}} Ann Arbor District Library |url=https://aadl.org/node/483026 |access-date=2024-07-17 |website=aadl.org}}</ref>

Alpheus Felch is the namesake of [[Felch Township, Michigan]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Daly|first1=Matthew L.|last2=Herman|first2=Jennifer L.|last3=Hannan|first3=Caryn|title=Michigan Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NbaF0SWvRJIC&pg=PA268|date=December 1, 2008|publisher=North American Book Dist LLC|isbn=978-1-878592-94-1|page=268}}</ref> Felch Park, on the University of Michigan campus, is also named for him. 
{{clear}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{CongBio|F000063}}

==External links==
*[http://www.memoriallibrary.com/MI/LivIngPB/gov~105-142.htm#Felch Portrait & Biographical Album] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313142219/http://www.memoriallibrary.com/MI/LivIngPB/gov~105-142.htm#Felch |date=March 13, 2007 }}
*[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/feickert-fellman.html#R9M0IWLGX The Political Graveyard]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930041808/http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=459d57e1e34f2010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD National Governors Association]
* {{LocalWiki|ann-arbor|Alpheus_Felch}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|rows=2|before=[[John S. Barry]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for [[Governor of Michigan]]|years=[[1845 Michigan gubernatorial election|1845]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Epaphroditus Ransom]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for [[Governor of Michigan]]|years=[[1856 Michigan gubernatorial election|1856]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Charles E. Stuart]]}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box | title=[[Michigan Auditor General]] | before=[[Eurotus P. Hastings]] | after=[[Henry L. Whipple]] | years= 1842 }}
{{succession box
| before= [[John S. Barry]]
| title= [[Governor of Michigan]]
| years= 1846–1847
| after= [[William L. Greenly]]}}
{{s-par|us-sen}}
{{U.S. Senator box
|state=Michigan
|class=2
|before=[[William Woodbridge]]
|after=[[Charles E. Stuart]]
|alongside=[[Lewis Cass]], [[Thomas Fitzgerald (American politician)|Thomas Fitzgerald]], Lewis Cass
|years=1847–1853}}
{{s-hon}}
{{succession box
|title=Most senior living U.S. senator <br /> (Sitting or former) |with =  [[James W. Bradbury]]
|before= [[Simon Cameron]]
|after= [[James W. Bradbury]]
|years= June 26, 1889 – June 13, 1896}}
{{s-end}}

{{Governors of Michigan}}
{{USSenMI}}
{{SenEnergyCommitteeChairmen}}
{{Michigan Auditors General}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Felch, Alpheus}}
[[Category:1804 births]]
[[Category:1896 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Michigan Territory]]
[[Category:Michigan auditors general]]
[[Category:Democratic Party governors of Michigan]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Justices of the Michigan Supreme Court]]
[[Category:Bowdoin College alumni]]
[[Category:Phillips Exeter Academy alumni]]
[[Category:Democratic Party United States senators from Michigan]]
[[Category:University of Michigan faculty]]
[[Category:Politicians from Ann Arbor, Michigan]]
[[Category:People from Limerick, Maine]]
[[Category:Politicians from Bangor, Maine]]
[[Category:Methodists from Michigan]]
[[Category:Regents of the University of Michigan]]
[[Category:Burials at Forest Hill Cemetery (Ann Arbor, Michigan)]]
[[Category:Maine lawyers]]
[[Category:19th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:19th-century Michigan state court judges]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the Michigan Legislature]]
[[Category:19th-century United States senators]]