Researching Edward Everett

Everett was one of the great American orators of the antebellum and Civil War eras. He is often remembered today as the featured orator at the dedication ceremony of the Gettysburg National Cemetery in 1863, where he spoke for over two hoursimmediately before President Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous two-minute Gettysburg Address.

The son of a pastor, Everett was educated at Harvard, and briefly ministered at Boston's Brattle Street Church before taking a teaching job at Harvard. The position included preparatory studies in Europe, so Everett spent two years in studies at the University of Göttingen, and another two years traveling around Europe. At Harvard he taught ancient Greek literature for several years before becoming involved in politics, and began an extensive and popular speaking career. He served ten years in the United States Congress before winning election as Governor of Massachusetts in 1835. As governor he introduced the state Board of Education, the first of its type in the nation. In 1831, he was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society.

After being narrowly defeated in the 1839 election, Everett was appointed Minister to Great Britain, serving until 1845. He next became President of Harvard, a job he quickly came to dislike. In 1849, he became an assistant to longtime friend and colleague Daniel Webster, who had been appointed Secretary of State. Upon Webster's death Everett served as Secretary of State for a few months until he was sworn in as U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. In the later years of his life, Everett traveled and gave speeches all over the country. He supported efforts to maintain the Union before the Civil War, running for Vice President on the Constitutional Union Party ticket in 1860. He was active in supporting the Union effort during the war and supported Lincoln in the 1864 election.

Everett was born in London, England on March 13, 1818. His father was American and in 1840 moved to Quincy, Illinois in the United States, as did Edward. By his twenties, Everett had shown considerable aptitude for drawing. It's not known whether or where Everett received formal artistic training, but his landscape sketches resemble the Hudson River School. Despite his skill, Everett considered himself a draftsman and mechanical engineer rather than a fine artist.

Everett joined the Army in 1843 and fought at the Battle of Nauvoo in the Illinois Mormon War. In June 1846 his unit was reorganized for the Mexican–American War and, as part of General Wool's Center Division, arrived that summer at San Antonio to guard supplies. Everett, then a sergeant, served as a provost officer (military policeman) and on September 11, 1846, was badly wounded in the knee by a gunshot fired by a civilian while breaking up a disturbance, a wound from which he never fully recovered and which left him unfit for field duty.

While recuperating, Everett made many drawings of San Antonio and the surrounding area (including the Alamo), some of which are displayed at the Amon Carter Museum. He also wrote letters and kept journals and wrote official reports, all of which are preserved and later wrote a lengthy memoir.

Everett later worked for a few years in Washington, D. C. and then returned to Illinois. He married Mary A. Billings on October 7, 1857. During the American Civil War, Everett served as an Assistant Quartermaster for the State of Illinois, with the rank of Major. He later moved to Ossining, New York, and then Roxbury, Massachusetts, where he died on July 24, 1903.