Governor Alpheus Felch

ALPHEUS FELCH, the fifth governor of Michigan, was born in Limerick, Maine on September 28, 1804. His early education was attained at the Phillips Academy in New Hampshire, and later at Bowdoin College, where he graduated in 1827. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1830, and then established a legal practice in Houlton, Maine. Shortly after moving to Michigan, Felch entered into a political career. He served as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from 1835 to 1837, and was the state bank commissioner from 1838 to 1839. He also was the state auditor general in 1842, and served as an associate justice of the Michigan Supreme Court from 1842 to 1845. Felch next secured the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, and went on to win election to the governorship on November 4, 1845. During his tenure, state statutes were amended; the state capital was relocated to Lansing; and the state’s population continued to increase. Felch resigned from the governorship on March 3, 1847, upon his election to the U.S. Senate. He served in his senatorial seat until 1853, when he then secured an appointment as president of the commission that was organized to settle Spanish and Mexican war claims. He served on the commission for three years. Governor Alpheus Felch passed away on June 13, 1896, and was buried in the Forest Hill Cemetery in Ann Arbor, Michigan.