Robert Milligan McLane Robert Milligan McLane ( June 23 , 1815 – April 16 , 1898 ) was an American politician , military officer , and diplomat . He served as Ambassador to Mexico , France , and China , as a member of the House of Representatives from the fourth district of Maryland , as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee , and as the 39th Governor of Maryland . Early life and military career . McLane was born in Wilmington , Delaware , in 1815 , the son of Louis McLane and Catherine Mary Milligan . His birthplace , the Louis McLane House , was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 . He received early education from a private school conducted by John Bullock , a Quaker . He received higher education from St . Mary ’ s College in Baltimore , Maryland until he moved with his family to Europe , after his father had been appointed as an ambassador to England . He was sent to Paris to receive further education from Collège Bourbon , where he became acquainted with the Marquis de Lafayette . McLane and his family moved back to the United States in 1833 when his father was appointed Secretary of the Treasury . The same year , McLane was appointed as a cadet in the United States Military Academy at West Point by President Andrew Jackson , and graduated in July 1837 with a commission as second lieutenant of Artillery in the United States Army . McLane was deployed with his regiment to Florida during the Seminole War in 1837 under the command of General Thomas S . Jesup , and in 1838 was re - deployed to the west under General Winfield Scott . In 1838 , he was transferred to the Corps of Topographical Engineers under General Zachary Taylor . In 1841 , he was sent to the Northern Lakes for survey work and was also sent to Europe to examine the dikes and drainage systems in the Netherlands and Italy . While in Europe , he met his future wife , Georgine Urquhart , and eventually fathered two children with her . McLane resigned his commission in 1843 to pursue the study of law , and was admitted to the bar the same year . He commenced practice in Baltimore thereafter . Political and diplomatic career . Early political career and election to Congress . In 1845 , McLane was elected as a representative of Baltimore City to the Maryland House of Delegates after successfully campaigning for President James K . Polk a year previous . In 1847 , McLane ran for Congress and defeated his Whig opponent , John P . Kennedy , by 500 votes . He was re - elected two years later , and served from March 4 , 1847 to March 3 , 1851 . In Congress , McLane was seen as an exceptional orator , and , during his second term , was chosen as chairman of the Committee on Commerce . He was not a candidate for renomination in 1850 . After his tenure in Congress , McLane moved to the Western United States to become a counsel for a mining corporation , which was engaged in legal activities regarding property in California . He remained out West until 1852 , when he returned to Maryland to serve as Presidential elector for Franklin Pierce . Ambassador to China and Mexico . In 1853 , during the Taiping Rebellion , President Pierce appointed McLane as commissioner to China , with the powers of a Minister Plenipotentiary , and at the same time accredited to Japan , Siam , Korea , and Cochin China . Despite the civil war , McLane was ordered to secure commercial trade relations between China and the United States , and was also ordered to negotiate with the rebels while also retaining diplomatic relations with the Imperial Government . He successfully renewed trade relations between both nations , but returned to the United States in 1854 due to poor health . After his return to the United States , he resumed his political activity by serving as delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1856 , during which he supported future President James Buchanan . The United States and Mexico had broken off diplomatic relations in 1858 , after which civil war broke out in Mexico . McLane was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Mexico on March 7 , 1859 and was charged to determine if the government of Benito Juárez , in opposition to the Emperor , was worthy of recognition . He also negotiated , as ambassador , the McLane - Ocampo Treaty , which would have expanded the transit rights of the U . S . across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to include an interoceanic canal concession . However , the treaty was not ratified by the United States Senate . McLane retired as Ambassador to Mexico on December 22 , 1860 . American Civil War and return to Congress . During the American Civil War , the Federal Government , under President Abraham Lincoln , forcibly forbade the state of Maryland from joining the Confederacy . McLane was a member of the delegation sent to Washington , D . C . to question the actions of the Federal Government . McLane personally believed that the Federal Government did not have the Constitutional right to force Maryland into submission , but determined , along with the rest of the delegation , that Maryland should not secede . During the rest of the War , McLane refocused his attention back towards his law practice , as he had been appointed counsel for the Western Pacific Railroad in the winter of 1863 . McLane would continue to devote his energies towards his law practice until well after the end of the Civil War , and did not re - enter politics until the Democratic National Convention in 1876 . He entered the Maryland State Senate in 1877 , representing Baltimore City . He left the State Senate in 1879 to again run for election to Congress . He was successful , and served two terms from March 4 , 1879 to March 3 , 1883 . During his first term in Congress , he was chairman of the Committee on Pacific Railroads . Governor of Maryland and Ambassador to France . In 1883 , the Maryland Democratic Party nominated McLane to be the next Governor of Maryland . In the election , McLane handily defeated his Republican opponent , Hart Benton Holton , by 12 , 000 votes . During his tenure , several notable pieces of legislation were passed , including the establishment of the Bureau of Statistics and Labor Information , and the establishment of a universal time standard throughout the state . McLane only served as governor for slightly over a year , from January 8 , 1884 until his resignation on March 27 , 1885 , having been appointed by President Grover Cleveland as United States Minister Plenipotentiary to France . McLane moved to France with his wife , whom he had met there many years previously , to carry out his ambassadorial duties . He established permanent residence in Paris even after his tenure as ambassador expired in 1889 , due to his wife ' s declining health . His own health began to decline in 1891 , culminating in 1898 when he died . His body was returned to Baltimore , and was interred at Greenmount Cemetery .