John Robert French

John Robert French (May 28, 1819 – October 2, 1890) was an American publisher, editor, and Republican politician who served as a Representative from North Carolina in the United States Congress from 1867 to 1869. Over the course of his public career he also served as Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate, as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, and as a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives during the 1860s. His congressional service occurred during the Reconstruction era, a significant period in American history, during which he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his constituents as a member of the Republican Party.

French was born in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, on May 28, 1819. He received an academic education in Gilmanton and in Concord, New Hampshire. Early in life he learned the printer’s trade, a skill that would shape much of his professional activity. Through his education and apprenticeship in printing, he developed the editorial and publishing expertise that later supported both his journalistic and political careers.

French began his career in journalism in New Hampshire, where he became publisher and associate editor of the New Hampshire Statesman in Concord, a position he held for five years. While working at the New Hampshire Statesman, he published in 1847 a volume of writings by the noted abolitionist Nathaniel Peabody Rogers, titled A Collection from the Newspaper Writings of Nathaniel Peabody Rogers; French was also Rogers’s son-in-law. He further advanced the antislavery cause as publisher and associate editor of the Herald of Freedom in Concord, one of the first anti-slavery newspapers, helping to disseminate abolitionist ideas in the years leading up to the Civil War.

After his work in New Hampshire, French continued his editorial career in New England. He served for two years as editor of the Eastern Journal in Biddeford, Maine, broadening his experience in regional journalism. In 1854 he moved west to Lake County, Ohio, where he became editor of several newspapers, including the Telegraph and the Press, and in 1856 he joined the Cleveland Morning Leader. These positions placed him within the emerging Republican political milieu of the Old Northwest and helped establish his reputation as a politically engaged editor.

French entered elective office in Ohio, serving as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives in 1858 and 1859. His legislative experience in Ohio coincided with the intensifying national debate over slavery and secession. In 1861, at the outset of the Civil War, he was appointed by Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase to a clerkship in the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., bringing him into the federal service at a critical moment for the Union government.

During the Civil War, French’s responsibilities expanded when President Abraham Lincoln appointed him a member of the board of direct-tax commissioners for the State of North Carolina, a body charged with administering federal tax policy in areas under Union control. At the close of the war he settled in Edenton, North Carolina, and became active in the state’s Reconstruction politics. In 1867 he served as a delegate to the North Carolina constitutional convention and was also a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives during the 1860s, participating in efforts to reshape the state’s legal and political framework after the Confederacy’s defeat.

Upon the readmission of North Carolina to representation in Congress following the Civil War, French was elected as a Republican to the Fortieth Congress. He served as a Representative from North Carolina from July 6, 1868, to March 3, 1869, completing one term in office. During this period he contributed to the legislative process in the House of Representatives and took part in the broader Reconstruction program of the Republican Party. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1868, concluding his brief but significant tenure in the House at the end of the term.

After leaving the House of Representatives, French continued his federal service in a key administrative role. On March 22, 1869, he was elected Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate, a position in which he was responsible for maintaining order, executing the Senate’s commands, and overseeing various administrative and security functions. He served in that capacity for a full decade, until March 24, 1879. In July 1880 he was appointed secretary and disbursing officer of the Ute Commission, a federal body involved in the administration of affairs related to the Ute people, and in connection with this appointment he returned to Washington, D.C.

In his later years, French moved westward once more. He lived for a time in Omaha, Nebraska, and subsequently settled in Boise City, Idaho. There he resumed his earlier vocation in journalism as editor of the Boise City Sun, remaining active in the newspaper field until his death. John Robert French died in Boise City on October 2, 1890, and was interred in Boise City Cemetery, closing a career that had spanned journalism, state legislatures, the United States Congress, and senior administrative service in the Senate during a transformative era in American history.