James Pollock
Encyclopedia
James Pollock was the 13th Governor of the State
of Pennsylvania
from 1855 to 1858.
. District attorney and judicial appointments followed and in 1844 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives
where he served three successive terms.
As a freshman congressman, Pollock boarded in the same rooming house as another new congressman, Abraham Lincoln
and they soon developed a mutual respect and longstanding friendship.
Pollock was an early supporter of Samuel Morse
and his idea for a telegraph and was instrumental in getting the United States Congress
to appropriate a small amount to help build the first line. He was present in the room when the first message, “What hath God wrought” was received, ushering in a new age of telecommunication.
Pollock was also the first in Congress to advocate the construction of a railroad across the continent, connecting newly acquired California with the east. In a speech in 1848 he said, “At the risk of being considered insane, I will venture the prediction that, in less than twenty-five years from this evening, a railroad will be completed and in operation between New York and San Francisco, California.” The transcontinental railroad
was completed in 1869, four years inside the limit fixed by Mr. Pollock.
He returned to the judiciary in Pennsylvania's Eighth District in 1850.
Pollock was nominated by the Whig Party for the governor's race in 1854, amid controversy surrounding the Kansas-Nebraska Act
.
During his administration, Pennsylvania
began to sell its publicly held railroads and canals, and he helped steer the state through the financial Panic of 1857
. He chaired the Pennsylvania delegation to the Washington Peace Convention in 1861, and was appointed by President Lincoln as Director of the Philadelphia mint that same year. While leading the United States Mint
, he was instructed by the Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase
in a letter to come up with suggestions for including "the trust of our people in God" in a motto on America's coins. Pollock proposed a number of mottos, including "Our Trust Is In God" and "God Our Trust," which Chase ultimately revised to "In God We Trust."
The 1864 two-cent piece was the first coin with the approved motto and today all American coins are inscribed with “In God We Trust.”
. Concurring with Secretary Chase’s instructions, in his 1863 report to the Secretary of the Treasury, he wrote,
“We claim to be a Christian nation—why should we not vindicate our character by honoring the God of Nations…Our national coinage should do this. Its legends and devices should declare our trust in God—in Him who is “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” The motto suggested, “God our Trust,” is taken from our National Hymn, the Star-Spangled Banner.” The sentiment is familiar to every citizen of our country—it has thrilled the hearts and fallen in song from the lips of millions of American Freemen. The time for the introduction of this or a similar motto, is propitious and appropriate. ‘Tis an hour of National peril and danger—an hour when man’s strength is weakness—when our strength and our nation’s strength and salvation, must be in the God of Battles and of Nations. Let us reverently acknowledge his sovereignty, and let our coinage declare our trust in God.”
Mr. Pollock served as Vice President of the American Sunday School Union from 1855 until his death in 1890. In that role he had the distinction of presiding over more mission business meetings than any man in the history of AMF other than the first president. Greatly respected by his fellow managers, it was recorded that ‘he was always eager to do the Lord’s business with earnestness and dispatch’ and while conscious of the power of his masterful mind and loving heart, his fellows managers ‘most appreciated his depth of consecration.’
campus of Penn State University, the institution which received its charter during his term as governor.
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
from 1855 to 1858.
Political career
James Pollock graduated from the College of New Jersey at Princeton before setting up a law practice in his home community, in Milton, PennsylvaniaMilton, Pennsylvania
Milton is a borough in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, on the Susquehanna River, north of Harrisburg. Settled in 1770, it was incorporated in 1817, and is governed by a charter that was revised in 1890...
. District attorney and judicial appointments followed and in 1844 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
where he served three successive terms.
As a freshman congressman, Pollock boarded in the same rooming house as another new congressman, Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
and they soon developed a mutual respect and longstanding friendship.
Pollock was an early supporter of Samuel Morse
Samuel F. B. Morse
Samuel Finley Breese Morse was an American contributor to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system based on European telegraphs, co-inventor of the Morse code, and an accomplished painter.-Birth and education:...
and his idea for a telegraph and was instrumental in getting the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
to appropriate a small amount to help build the first line. He was present in the room when the first message, “What hath God wrought” was received, ushering in a new age of telecommunication.
Pollock was also the first in Congress to advocate the construction of a railroad across the continent, connecting newly acquired California with the east. In a speech in 1848 he said, “At the risk of being considered insane, I will venture the prediction that, in less than twenty-five years from this evening, a railroad will be completed and in operation between New York and San Francisco, California.” The transcontinental railroad
Transcontinental railroad
A transcontinental railroad is a contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad, or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies...
was completed in 1869, four years inside the limit fixed by Mr. Pollock.
He returned to the judiciary in Pennsylvania's Eighth District in 1850.
Pollock was nominated by the Whig Party for the governor's race in 1854, amid controversy surrounding the Kansas-Nebraska Act
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing settlers in those territories to determine through Popular Sovereignty if they would allow slavery within...
.
During his administration, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
began to sell its publicly held railroads and canals, and he helped steer the state through the financial Panic of 1857
Panic of 1857
The Panic of 1857 was a financial panic in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Indeed, because of the interconnectedness of the world economy by the time of the 1850s, the financial crisis which began in the autumn of 1857 was...
. He chaired the Pennsylvania delegation to the Washington Peace Convention in 1861, and was appointed by President Lincoln as Director of the Philadelphia mint that same year. While leading the United States Mint
United States Mint
The United States Mint primarily produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint was created by Congress with the Coinage Act of 1792, and placed within the Department of State...
, he was instructed by the Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase
Salmon P. Chase
Salmon Portland Chase was an American politician and jurist who served as U.S. Senator from Ohio and the 23rd Governor of Ohio; as U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Abraham Lincoln; and as the sixth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.Chase was one of the most prominent members...
in a letter to come up with suggestions for including "the trust of our people in God" in a motto on America's coins. Pollock proposed a number of mottos, including "Our Trust Is In God" and "God Our Trust," which Chase ultimately revised to "In God We Trust."
The 1864 two-cent piece was the first coin with the approved motto and today all American coins are inscribed with “In God We Trust.”
Christian faith
James Pollock possessed a strong faith in GodGod
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. Concurring with Secretary Chase’s instructions, in his 1863 report to the Secretary of the Treasury, he wrote,
“We claim to be a Christian nation—why should we not vindicate our character by honoring the God of Nations…Our national coinage should do this. Its legends and devices should declare our trust in God—in Him who is “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” The motto suggested, “God our Trust,” is taken from our National Hymn, the Star-Spangled Banner.” The sentiment is familiar to every citizen of our country—it has thrilled the hearts and fallen in song from the lips of millions of American Freemen. The time for the introduction of this or a similar motto, is propitious and appropriate. ‘Tis an hour of National peril and danger—an hour when man’s strength is weakness—when our strength and our nation’s strength and salvation, must be in the God of Battles and of Nations. Let us reverently acknowledge his sovereignty, and let our coinage declare our trust in God.”
Mr. Pollock served as Vice President of the American Sunday School Union from 1855 until his death in 1890. In that role he had the distinction of presiding over more mission business meetings than any man in the history of AMF other than the first president. Greatly respected by his fellow managers, it was recorded that ‘he was always eager to do the Lord’s business with earnestness and dispatch’ and while conscious of the power of his masterful mind and loving heart, his fellows managers ‘most appreciated his depth of consecration.’
Memorialization
Pollock has a residence area, dining commons, and campus road named for him on the University ParkUniversity Park, Pennsylvania
University Park, Pennsylvania is an unincorporated community in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States, and is the location of the flagship campus of the Pennsylvania State University....
campus of Penn State University, the institution which received its charter during his term as governor.
Sources
- The Political Graveyard
- The Sunday School Movement and the American Sunday School Union by Edwin Wilbur Rice: Union Press, 1917.
- The Torch and the Flag by Galbraith Hall Todd; Union Press, 1966.
- United States Mint Annual Report, 1863.
- In Memoriam, James Pollack: published privately by the family of James Pollack, c. 1890.