William P. Dole dating history

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William Palmer Dole (December 3, 1811 – September 30, 1889) was an American politician who served as the Commissioner of Indian Affairs from 1861 to 1865. Born in Danville, Vermont, he moved to Ohio at a young age before attending school near Terre Haute, Indiana. After leaving home, he worked as a grocer and pork packer in Clinton, Indiana, making trips via flatboat to sell produce along the Mississippi. In 1838, he was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives as a Whig. Six years later he was elected to the state senate, and served in this role until 1851. After leaving the Indiana Congress, he returned to merchant work in Paris, Illinois, and joined the nascent Republican Party. He served as a delegate at the 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago, and helped to negotiate support for Abraham Lincoln from the Pennsylvania and Indiana delegations, where it was agreed that he would be appointed as Commissioner of Indian Affairs. He received a number of recommendations from Indiana and Illinois politicians, and was appointed by Lincoln following his election.