View source for Michael C. Kerr

{{Short description|American politician (1827–1876)}}
{{other people|Michael Kerr}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Michael C. Kerr
| image               = Michael C. Kerr - Brady-Handy (cropped).jpg
| caption             = 
| order               = 28th
| office              = Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
| term_start          = December 6, 1875
| term_end            = August 19, 1876
| predecessor         = [[James G. Blaine]]
| successor           = [[Samuel J. Randall]]
| office3             = Leader of the [[House Democratic Caucus#Caucus Leader|House Democratic Caucus]]
| term_start3         = December 6, 1875
| term_end3           = August 19, 1876
| predecessor3        = [[James Lawrence Orr]]
| successor3          = [[Samuel J. Randall]]
| state4              = Indiana
| district4           = {{ushr|IN|3|R}}
| term_start4         = March 4, 1875
| term_end4           = August 19, 1876
| predecessor4        = [[William S. Holman]] (3rd)
| successor4          = [[Nathan T. Carr]] (3rd)
| state5              = Indiana
| district5           = {{ushr|IN|2|R}}
| term_start5         = March 4, 1865
| term_end5           = March 3, 1873
| predecessor5        = [[James A. Cravens]]
| successor5          = [[Simeon K. Wolfe]]
| office6             = Member of the [[Indiana House of Representatives]]
| term6               = 1856–1857
| birth_name          = Michael Crawford Kerr
| birth_date          = March 15, 1827
| birth_place         = [[Titusville, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| death_date          = August 19, 1876 (aged 49)
| death_place         = [[Rockbridge County, Virginia]], U.S.
| nationality         = 
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| otherparty          = 
| spouse              = 
| relations           = 
| children            = 
| residence           = 
| alma_mater          = [[University of Louisville]]
| occupation          = 
| profession          = [[Lawyer]]
| religion            = 
| signature           = 
| website             = 
| footnotes           = 
}}
[[Image:Mike Kerr Home.jpg|thumb|Kerr's home in [[New Albany, Indiana]]]] 
'''Michael Crawford Kerr''' (March 15, 1827 – August 19, 1876) was an American lawyer and legislator who served as the first [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] [[speaker of the United States House of Representatives]] after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].

==Early life==
He was born at [[Titusville, Pennsylvania]] and educated at the Erie Academy. He graduated from the [[University of Louisville School of Law]] in 1851. He moved to [[New Albany, Indiana]] in 1852 and was a member of the [[Indiana General Assembly|State Legislature]] from 1856 to 1857.

==Political career==
He was elected to Congress in 1864 as a [[War Democrat]], having vigorously opposed the [[Copperheads (politics)|Copperhead]] element in his district. He won the praise of Republican Governor [[Oliver P. Morton]] for helping suppress illegal conspiracies by Copperheads.<ref>Jacob Piatt Dunn, ''Indiana and Indianans'' (1919) [https://books.google.com/books?id=vt4haf_0N58C&pg=PA651 vol 2 p 651-2 online]</ref>

Kerr served in the [[United States House of Representatives]] as a [[History of the Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] from [[Indiana]] from 1865 to 1873. In Congress he was looked upon as one of the leaders of the Democratic Party. He strongly opposed the Republican policy of [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]] in the Southern States.  He was not re-elected in 1872.

His [[Hard money (policy)|hard money]] views on financial questions did not meet with favor in his agrarian constituency, where he openly antagonized the inflationists and the [[Greenback Party|Greenback]] element and favored [[Specie Payment Resumption Act|the resumption]] of [[Gold standard|specie payments]]. In 1874, however, after a sharp contest he won the seat back, and on his re-entry into Congress was elected to the [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|speakership]]. He presided as Speaker at only the first session of the [[44th United States Congress|Forty-fourth Congress]] and died of [[Tuberculosis|consumption]] shortly after its adjournment.

==See also==
*[[List of United States Congress members who died in office (1790–1899)]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Halsell, Willie D., ed. "Advice from Michael C. Kerr to a Reconstructed Rebel Congressman." ''Indiana Magazine of History'' 33 (September 1941): 257–61.
* Smith, William Henry. ''The history of the state of Indiana''  (1897) [https://books.google.com/books?id=dxMVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR8 p. 798-800 online]
*Stampp, Kenneth. ''Indiana politics during the Civil War'' (1949)

==External links==
*[http://www.iment.com/maida/familytree/burnett/squarespeech.htm Original newspaper broadsheet in the collection of the State Archives in Indianapolis]
* {{Find a Grave|8541}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box| title=[[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives]]| before=[[James G. Blaine]]| after=[[Samuel J. Randall]]| years=December 6, 1875 – August 19, 1876}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{US House succession box
| state=Indiana
| district=2
| before=[[James A. Cravens]]
| after=[[Simeon K. Wolfe]]
| years=March 4, 1865 &ndash; March 3, 1873
}}
{{US House succession box
| state=Indiana
| district=3
| before=[[William S. Holman]]
| after=[[Nathan T. Carr]]
| years=March 4, 1875 &ndash; August 19, 1876
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Democratic Party (United States)}}
{{SpeakerUSHouse}}
{{IndianaUSRepresentatives}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Michael C.}}
[[Category:1827 births]]
[[Category:1876 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Titusville, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Speakers of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:People from New Albany, Indiana]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana]]
[[Category:University of Louisville School of Law alumni]]
[[Category:19th-century deaths from tuberculosis]]
[[Category:Tuberculosis deaths in Virginia]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the Indiana General Assembly]]