euben Fenton was born in Chautauqua County, New York, to Elsie Owen Fenton and
George W. Fenton, who were farmers and storekeepers. He received an education at
local academies, then began teaching school while studying law at a law firm. In
1837 he and a brother took over management of their father's store and assumed
its debt. A more astute businessman than his father, Rueben Fenton's investments
in land and lumber brought him great wealth. In 1833 he married Jane Frew, but
she died within two years. In 1844 he married Elizabeth Scudder; they had three
children.
Fenton entered politics in 1846 with his election as town supervisor, serving in
that position for eight years. In 1852 he ran for Congress as a Free-Soil
Democrat. Although his district was predominantly Whig, enough anti-slavery
Whigs bolted their party to elect his as their representative. In the U.S. House
he was relatively quiet, concentrating on constituent concerns, until the debate
over the Kansas-Nebraska bill provoked his vociferous denunciation. The breakup
of the party system in the 1850s hurt Fenton, who lost his reelection bid in
1854 to a Know-Nothing candidate. He then joined the new Republican party and
was elected presiding officer of the first New York state Republican convention
in 1855. Fenton ran for Congress again in 1856, this time winning an easy
victory in what was now a firmly Republican district. He served in the U.S.
House until he resigned in 1864 to run for governor of New York.
Fenton defeated Horatio Seymour, the Democratic incumbent, by a slim margin of
less than one percent of the vote. Once in office, though, Fenton was able to
use the governorship to make himself into the political "boss" of New
York Republicans. He and the Republican legislature instituted a series of
reforms, including the initiation of free public education, the founding of
Cornell University, the opening of teacher-training colleges, the implementation
of health and housing standards, and the creation of a professional fire
department in New York City.
In 1869 the state legislature sent Fenton to the U.S. Senate. He was
outmaneuvered by Senator Roscoe Conkling for control of the New York Republican
party. A critic of the Grant administration, Fenton joined the Liberal
Republican movement in 1872 and supported Horace Greeley in the presidential
election. With his political influence further undermined, Fenton retired in
1875 to become a banker. In 1878 he was appointed chair of the American
delegation to the International Monetary Conference in Paris.
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1860
