Youngest Vice President

The seventeenth Vice President of the United State, United States Representative and Speaker of the House, Schuyler Colfax Jr died on the 13th of January 1885.

Schuyler Colfax Jr was born in New York City March 23th, 1823, the son of Schuyler and Hannah [Stryker] Colfax. His father passed away before he was born. After a time his mother re-married. In 1836 the family moved to New Carlisle, Indiana. He became active in Indiana politics, using the press he became a rising star in the Whig party. He was nominated for Congress in 1850, but lost to his Democratic opponent, he ran successfully two years later. When the Whig party collapsed he became a member of the Republican Party. He was an energetic opponent of slavery. In 1862 he was elected to be the Speaker of the House, it was during his term that he announced the passage of the 13th Amendment. In 1868 Colfax was elected to be Ulysses S Grant’s Vice President [the youngest President and Vice President until 1992]. He died on January 13th 1885 after walking about a mile in cold weather to a train depot in Mankato,Minnesota from a heart attack. He is buried in the City Cemetery in South Bend, Indiana.