Alpheus Felch (September 28, 1804June 13, 1896) was the fifth governor of Michigan and U.S. Senator from Michigan.

Early life

Felch was born in Limerick (in modern-day Maine, then a part of Massachusetts). He was left an orphan at the age of three and lived with his grandfather Abijah Felch, a veteran of the American Revolution. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, and graduated from Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, in 1827. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in Bangor, Maine, and practiced in Houlton, Maine, from 1830 to 1833.

Political career

Felch moved to Monroe, Michigan, in 1833 and continued the practice of law. In 1835 he was the aid-de-camp to General Joseph Brown during the mustering of troops for the Ohio–Michigan Boundary Dispute (the Toledo War). He was elected three times to the Michigan State House of Representatives, serving from 1835 to 1837. He was appointed state bank commissioner in 1838 and resigned in 1839. As bank commissioner, he did much to expose frauds which had been made possible by a general wildcat banking law which he had opposed, and which was afterward declared unconstitutional by the Michigan Supreme Court.

Alpheus Felch is the namesake of Felch Township, Michigan. Felch Park, on the University of Michigan campus, is also named for him.

References

  • Portrait & Biographical Album
  • The Political Graveyard
  • National Governors Association