Representative Benjamin Glover Shields

Benjamin Glover Shields (January 9, 1811 – November 15, 1892) was an American politician and diplomat who served one term as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama and later held federal office in Texas. His public career spanned the antebellum era, the Civil War, and Reconstruction, and included legislative service at both the state and national levels as well as a significant diplomatic posting in South America.

Shields was born on January 9, 1811, at his family’s plantation in Abbeville, South Carolina. He was the son of Milley Harris Glover Shields and Samuel Bayard Shields. His father was originally from New Castle County, Delaware, while his maternal grandfather was a wealthy planter in Abbeville, giving the family a background that combined Mid-Atlantic roots with the plantation society of the South. In his youth he moved with his father to Clarke County, Alabama, as the family joined the broader migration into the developing regions of the Southwest. He later resided in Demopolis, in Marengo County, Alabama, where he completed his preparatory studies.

For his higher education, Shields attended Franklin College in Athens, Georgia, an institution that would later become part of the University of Georgia. His education there provided him with the classical and legal grounding typical of Southern political leaders of his generation and prepared him for a career in public life. After his studies, he returned to Alabama, where he quickly became involved in state politics.

Shields entered public office as a member of the Alabama House of Representatives in 1834, marking the beginning of his political career. As a Democrat representing Alabama, he contributed to the legislative process at the state level during a period of rapid growth and political realignment in the South. His work in the state legislature helped establish his reputation and laid the foundation for his later election to national office.

Shields was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives and served one term in the Twenty-seventh Congress, from March 4, 1841, to March 3, 1843, representing Alabama. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, marked by debates over economic policy, territorial expansion, and the evolving sectional tensions that would later culminate in the Civil War. During this time, he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his Alabama constituents within the national legislature.

After leaving Congress, Shields was appointed to a prominent diplomatic post. In 1845, President James K. Polk commissioned him as United States Chargé d’Affaires to Venezuela. In this capacity, he represented American interests in Caracas during a formative period in U.S.–Latin American relations. He remained in this position until January 7, 1850, overseeing diplomatic communications and commercial concerns at a time when the United States was expanding its influence in the Western Hemisphere. Upon his return to the United States, he became an outspoken opponent of secession. Aligning himself with the Unionist cause, he ran unsuccessfully for governor of Alabama as a Union Democrat, reflecting his commitment to preserving the Union even as sectional tensions deepened.

Following the Civil War, Shields relocated to Texas, where he became one of the relatively few white Republicans in the state during Reconstruction and its aftermath. His political alignment in this era underscored his continued support for the Union and the postwar federal order. From 1874 to 1879, he served as the United States Collector of Customs at the Port of Galveston, a significant federal position in one of the Gulf Coast’s most important commercial centers. In this role, he oversaw the collection of customs revenues and the enforcement of federal trade regulations at a major point of entry for international commerce.

In his personal life, Shields married Sarah Thomas Harwell in April 1832. She was the daughter of Dr. Ishmael P. Harwell, linking Shields to another prominent Southern family. In his later years, he lived near Marlin, Texas. He died at his home there on November 15, 1892, reportedly as a result of a cold he contracted while riding in the rain to cast his vote in a presidential and gubernatorial election. On that occasion, he voted for President Benjamin Harrison and for Texas Governor Jim Hogg, a final act that reflected his enduring engagement with the political life of his country and state even in advanced age.