page_title: John C. Frémont
section_title: Early life, education, and career
hierarchical_section_title: John C. Frémont / Early life, education, and career
caption_attribution_description: Jessie Benton Frémont (1824-1902), American author, wife of John C. Frémont.
context_page_description: John Charles Frémont or Fremont was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a US Senator from California, and in 1856 was the first Republican nominee for President of the United States.
  A native of Georgia, Frémont acquired male protectors after his father's death, and became proficient in mathematics, science, and surveying. During the 1840s, he led five expeditions into the Western United States and became known as "The Pathfinder". During the Mexican–American War, Frémont, a major in the U.S. Army, took control of California from the California Republic in 1846. Frémont was convicted in court-martial for mutiny and insubordination after a conflict over who was the rightful military governor of California. After his sentence was commuted and he was reinstated by President Polk, Frémont resigned from the Army. Frémont led a private fourth expedition, which cost ten lives, seeking a rail route over the mountains around the 38th parallel in the winter of 1849.
  Afterwards, Frémont settled in California at Monterey while buying cheap land in the Sierra foothills.
context_section_description: John Charles Frémont was born on January 21, 1813, the son of Charles Frémon, a French-Canadian immigrant school-teacher, and Anne Beverley Whiting, the youngest daughter of socially prominent Virginia planter Col. Thomas Whiting. At age 17, Anne married Major John Pryor, a wealthy Richmond resident in his early 60s. In 1810, Pryor hired Frémon to tutor his young wife Anne. Pryor confronted Anne when he found out she was having an affair with Frémon. Anne and Frémon fled to Williamsburg on July 10, 1811, later settling in Norfolk, Virginia, taking with them household slaves Anne had inherited. The couple later settled in Savannah, Georgia, where she gave birth to their son Frémont out of wedlock. Pryor published a divorce petition in the Virginia Patriot, and charged that his wife had "for some time past indulged in criminal intercourse". When the Virginia House of Delegates refused Anne's divorce petition, it was impossible for the couple to marry. In Savannah, Anne took in boarders while Frémon taught French and dancing. Their domestic slave, Black Hannah, helped raise young John.
  On December 8, 1818, Frémont's father Frémon died in Norfolk, Virginia, leaving Anne a widow to take care of John and several young children alone on a limited inherited income. Anne and her family moved to Charleston, South Carolina. Frémont, knowing his origins and coming from relatively modest means, grew up a proud, reserved, restless loner who although self-disciplined, was ready to prove himself and unwilling to play by the rules. The young Frémont was considered to be "precious, handsome, and daring," having the ability of obtaining protectors. A lawyer, John W. Mitchell, provided for Frémont's early education whereupon Frémont in May 1829 entered Charleston College, teaching at intervals in the countryside, but was expelled for irregular attendance in 1831. Frémont, however, had been grounded in mathematics and natural sciences.
  Frémont attracted the attention of eminent South Carolina politician Joel R. Poinsett, an Andrew Jackson supporter, who secured Frémont an appointment as a teacher of mathematics aboard the sloop USS Natchez, sailing the South American seas in 1833. Frémont resigned from the navy and was appointed second lieutenant in the United States Topographical Corps, surveying a route for the Charleston, Louisville, and Cincinnati railroad. Working in the Carolina mountains, Frémont desired to become an explorer. Between 1837 and 1838, Frémont's desire for exploration increased while in Georgia on reconnaissance to prepare for the removal of Cherokee Indians.  When Poinsett became Secretary of War, he arranged for Frémont to assist notable French explorer and scientist Joseph Nicollet in exploring the lands between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Frémont became a first rate topographer, trained in astronomy, and geology, describing fauna, flora, soil, and water resources. Gaining valuable western frontier experience Frémont came in contact with notable men including Henry Sibley, Joseph Renville, J.B. Faribault, Étienne Provost, and the Sioux nation.
caption: Jessie Benton Fremont
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