Gideon Welles (July 1, 1802 - February 11, 1878) was the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869. His buildup of the Navy to successfully execute blockades of Southern ports was a key component of Northern victory of the Civil War. Welles was also instrumental in the Navy's creation of the Medal of Honor. Born in Glastonbury, Connecticut, Welles earned a degree at Norwich University. He became a lawyer through the then-common practice of reading the law, … Wikipedia
During the 1860 Chicago convention, as chairman of the Connecticut delegation his opposition to Seward had swung many New England votes away from the New York Senator, whose opportunism offended Welles' stern Puritan morality. www.mlwh.org/inside.asp?ID=200&subjectID=2
The definitive Wikipedia entry for Gideon Welles. Wikipedia is the biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the Internet. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gideon_Welles
Gideon Wellesborn on 1 July 1802 in Glastonbury, Conn.became editor and part-owner of the Hartford Times in 1826 and remained its editor until he resigned a decade later. www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w5/welles-i.htm
During the 1860 Chicago convention, as chairman of the Connecticut delegation his opposition to Seward had swung many New England votes away from the New York Senator, whose opportunism offended Welles' stern Puritan morality. www.mlwh.org/inside.asp?ID=200&subjectID=2
