Ebenezer R. Hoar

Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar was an influential American politician, lawyer, and justice from Massachusetts. He was appointed U.S. Attorney General in 1869 by President Ulysses S. Grant he became the first U.S. Attorney General to head the newly created Department of Justice in July 1870. As Attorney General Hoar worked with President Ulysses S. Grant and Secretary of State Hamilton Fish over contentious issues as settling the Alabama Claims with England and in keeping the United States from recognizing Cuban belligerency during the Ten Years War. Hoar assisted Grant in appointing two Supreme Court justices that helped overturn a decision outlawing paper money as legal tender. Hoar himself, nominated by President Grant, was rejected by the Senate to fill a Supreme Court vacancy, in part due to senators dismay over Hoars resistance to distribute federal patronage jobs without regard to the job applicants capabilities.

Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar was born in Concord, Massachusetts, on February 21, 1816. Hoar came from a long line of Puritan ancestry, whose family had emigrated to America in 1640 to find religious liberty from England, initially settling in Braintree. His father was Samuel Hoar and his mother was Sarah Sherman. Hoar was sent to a religious private female teacher at the early age of two where in a matter of weeks acquired learning as if he had gone to a public instructor. By the age of three years, Hoar was able to read the Bible fluently as an adult. By the age of four, Hoar was literate having excelled his older sister in reading and writing. As Hoar grew up he was known for quick thinking and witty sayings. After attending a preparatory Academy, Hoar entered Harvard University at the age of fifteen in 1831. After graduation in 1835, Hoar moved West and served as an instructor at a school for girls in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After teaching in Pittsburgh, Hoar traveled to Kentucky and he

Source: Wikipedia