Russell A. Alger

Russell Alexander Alger (February 27, 1836 - January 24, 1907) was an American politician and businessman. He served as the 20th Governor of Michigan, U.S. Senator, and U.S. Secretary of War. He was also a army officer, financier, lumber baron and railroad owner.
Childhood
Russell Alexander Alger was born on February 27, 1836, in Lafayette, Ohio. His parents were Russell and Caroline Alger (nee Moulton).
His parents died in 1848, leaving Russell the oldest of three orphan children, without money and with a brother and sister to care for and support. He got used to working for the neighbors for a small quantity of resources or a few pennies a day even before the death of his parents, who were very poor.
Early career
He now found homes for his brother and sister and secured work for himself on a farm, his remuneration being his board, clothes and the privilege of attending school three months out of the year. He attended Richfield Academy in Summit County, Ohio, and taught country school for two winters.
He studied law in Akron, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar in March 1859. He first began to do law in Cleveland. In 1860, he moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan and engaged in the lumber business.
American Civil War
Alger enlisted as a soldier in the American Civil War on September 2, 1861. He served as a captain and major in the 2nd Michigan Cavalry Regiment. In three years, he served in 66 different battles and skirmishes
Battle of Boonville
On July 11, 1862, at the Battle of Boonville, Alger tried to attack the Confederate rear with ninety men but he was wounded and taken prisoner, but escaped the same day and the Confederate forces were soundly defeated.
On October 16, he was made lieutenant colonel of the 6th Michigan Cavalry.
1863 and 1864
On February 28, 1863, he was made colonel of the 5th Michigan Cavalry. His command was one of the very first to enter Gettysburg on June 28.
On July 8, 1864, Alger was severely wounded while chasing the Confederates at Boonesborough, Maryland.
Alger participated in General Sheridan's Valley Campaigns of 1864 in Virginia. On June 11, 1864, at Trevillian Station, he captured many Confederate soldiers with his cavalry charge.
Brevet
Alger left the army on September 20, 1864. On January 13, 1866, President Andrew Johnson made Alger a brevet brigadier general on June 11, 1865, and the U.S. Senate confirmed the award on March 12, 1866. On February 28, 1867, President Johnson nominated Alger for the award of the grade of brevet major general of volunteers to rank from June 11, 1865, and the U.S. Senate confirmed the award on March 2, 1867.
Grand Army of the Republic
In 1868, he was elected the first commander of the Michigan department of the Grand Army of the Republic. In 1889, he became the Grand Army's National Commander-in-Chief. He was also a member of the Michigan Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
Lumber baron
After the American Civil War, Alger lived in Detroit as head of Alger, Smith & Company and the Manistique Lumbering Company. His holdings included a great pine forest on Lake Huron covering over and producing more than of lumber by the year.
In order to transport the lumber, Alger led his company to create the Detroit, Bay City and Alpena Railroad, of which Alger served as president.
At the turn of the 20th century, he and Florida landowner Martin Sullivan established the Alger-Sullivan Lumber Company, which milled lumber in Foshee, Alabama and Century, Florida.
Political life
Alger was active in politics as a Republican. In 1866, he was a delegate to the party's Wayne County convention and its state convention. In the late 1860s, Alger was a leader of the Boys in Blue, an organization of veterans made to support Republican policies and candidates. In October 1872, Alger was a vice president of the assembly that organized a Republican event which featured a speech by James G. Blaine and served as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
In June 1876, Alger was a vice president of the assembly which supported a Republican rally in Detroit that began that year's presidential campaign. In early October 1876, Alger was a vice president of the assembly that organized a mass Republican rally in Detroit which featured a speech by former governor Edward Follansbee Noyes of Ohio. In late October 1876, he was one of the vice presidents of the assembly that organized a Republican rally in Detroit which included a speech by U.S. Senator James G. Blaine of Maine.
In early June 1880, Alger was a delegate to a huge meeting of Union veterans which met in Chicago to make a plan for supporting Republican candidates in that year's elections. In mid-June, he presided over the Republican meeting in Detroit which was organized to approve the results of the 1880 Republican National Convention, which had been held earlier in the month.
Governor of Michigan
In 1884, Alger was elected Governor of Michigan and served from January 1, 1885, to January 1, 1887. Highlights of his term included creation of the state board of pardons, the founding of a veterans home in Grand Rapids, the creation of two new counties (Alger and Iron), and creation of the Michigan College of Mines. Alger declined renomination in 1886.
Alger's name was placed in nomination for president at the 1888 Republican National Convention. He got 142 votes, with 416 necessary to win, but Benjamin Harrison got the nomination and then became president. After the election, Alger served as a presidential elector for Harrison.
Secretary of War
On March 5, 1897, Alger was appointed Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President William McKinley.
As Secretary, Alger wanted pay increases for military personnel serving at foreign embassies and legations, legislation to authorize a Second Assistant Secretary of War, and a constabulary force for Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.
Spanish-American War
He was criticized for the poor preparation and inefficient operation of the department during the Spanish-American War, especially for making William R. Shafter the leader of the Cuban expedition. "Algerism" became an epithet to describe the claimed incompetence of the army, especially as compared to the more stellar performance of the navy.
Alger left at President McKinley's request, August 1, 1899. He published a personal history of the war, titled The Spanish-American War, in 1901.
Rivalry with John S. Mosby
John Singleton Mosby accused Alger of placing a feud against him during Alger's tenure as War Secretary. Mosby had been a Confederate soldier during the American Civil War. After that, he became a Republican and supported Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes. In 1878, Hayes appointed Mosby to Hong Kong, where Mosby served until 1885.
Mosby supported William McKinley for president in 1896, and was assured by members of Congress close to McKinley that he could expect appointment to a career in Asia or South America. When there wasn't any appointment, Mosby concluded that Alger was blocking his return to his job and claimed that Alger was placing a feud. According to Mosby, because during the war Mosby had ordered the execution of soldiers under Alger's command who were accused of looting and destroying the property of supporters of the Confederacy in 1864.
U.S. Senator
On September 27, 1902, Alger was appointed by Michigan Governor Aaron T. Bliss to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of James McMillan. He was elected to the seat by the Michigan State Legislature in January 1903.
Alger was chairman of the Senate Committee on Pacific Railroads during the 59th Congress.
Personal life
Alger was the founder of a prominent family, many of whom became involved in 20th century Michigan politics and active in the Republican Party.
The Algers had a home in Black River, Alcona Township, Michigan, from which Alger oversaw his lumbering operations.
On April 2, 1861, he married Annette Huldana Squire Henry of Grand Rapids. They had six children; Henrietta, Caroline, Frances, Russell Jr., Frederick, and Allan.
Frederick graduated from Harvard in 1899, served as a lieutenant colonel with the American Expeditionary Force in France during the First World War, and was awarded the French Legion of Honor.
Russell Jr. was instrumental in persuading the Packard Motor Car Company to move to Michigan from Ohio. He built a palatial Italian Renaissance style estate, "The Moorings," in Grosse Pointe. It was donated in 1949 and became the Grosse Pointe War Memorial.
Death
He died in Washington, D.C., in 1907. He was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan.
Legacy
In a memorial address, Senator John Spooner of Wisconsin said of Alger, "No man without noble purpose, well-justified ambitions, strong fiber, and splendid qualities in abundance could have carved out and left behind him such a career."
An early movie entitled General Wheeler and Secretary of War Alger at Camp Wikoff documents an official visit to Camp Wikoff, New York as Secretary of War. The visit and film were produced to garner support from the New York newspapers.
In May 1898, the War Department established Camp Russell A. Alger on a farm near Falls Church and Dunn Loring, Virginia. Faced with a typhoid fever epidemic, it was abandoned the month at the war's end in August 1898 and sold the following month. In its brief existence, 23,000 men trained there for service. It is known by an official Virginia historical marker.
Places named after him
Alger, Michigan (1882)
Alger County, Michigan (1885)
Russell A. Alger Street and Alger Street in Black River, Michigan
Alger Street in Lincoln, Michigan
Alger Heights, a neighborhood of Grand Rapids, Michigan
A United States Liberty ship named the was planned but cancelled in 1942 before construction.
Monuments
In 1909, a monument to Alger was erected on the William G. Mather Building in Munising, Michigan. It consists of a bronze bust of Alger on a stone pedestal, and was sculpted by Detroit sculptor Carlo Romanelli with funds provided by the heirs of Alger and by the Board of Education of the Munising Township Schools.
In 1921, a memorial fountain to Alger was built in Grand Circus Park, Detroit by sculptor Daniel Chester French and architect Henry Bacon.