HALE, JOHN PARKER

born March 31, 1806, Rochester, N.H., U.S.

died Nov. 19, 1873, Dover, N.H.

U.S. politician and reformer.

He served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1843–45), where he achieved prominence as an opponent of slavery. In the U.S. Senate (1847–53, 1855–65), he sponsored a bill abolishing flogging in the navy. In 1852 he was the unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Free Soil Party . He returned to the Senate as a Republican and became a leader of that party. He later served as U.S. minister to Spain (1865–69).