Simon Cameron
Simon Cameron (1799-1889) was born and died in Maytown, Pennsylvania. He
married Margaret Brua in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1822 and worked as a businessman
(making his fortune in railways, canals, and banking) and a politician. Cameron
represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate for 18 years (1845-49, 1857-61,
1867-77). He served as President Abraham Lincoln's United States Secretary of War at the
start of the American Civil War. However, his tenure was marked by allegations of
corruption and lax management, and he was soon demoted to the United States Minister to
Russia, a post from which he resigned after one year before returning to the Senate in
1867. He spent these years creating the "Cameron machine" that dominated Pennsylvania
politics and patronage throughout the nineteenth century.
See more letters.
Simon Cameron
Simon Cameron (1799-1889) was born and died in Maytown, Pennsylvania. He
married Margaret Brua in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1822 and worked as a businessman
(making his fortune in railways, canals, and banking) and a politician. Cameron
represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate for 18 years (1845-49, 1857-61,
1867-77). He served as President Abraham Lincoln's United States Secretary of War at the
start of the American Civil War. However, his tenure was marked by allegations of
corruption and lax management, and he was soon demoted to the United States Minister to
Russia, a post from which he resigned after one year before returning to the Senate in
1867. He spent these years creating the "Cameron machine" that dominated Pennsylvania
politics and patronage throughout the nineteenth century.
See more letters.