Rodney French

Rodney French (1802–1882) was an American abolitionist, politician, and merchant who served as Mayor of New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Early life French was born on May 2, 1802, in Berkley, Massachusetts to Samuel and Celia (Crane) French.

Politics and abolitionism In 1836, French helped form and was elected president of the New Bedford Young Men's Anti-Slavery Society. In 1838, he hired Frederick Douglass to work as a caulker on one of his ships. Douglass, however, was unable to take the job because he was informed that every white man on the ship would leave if he "struck a blow upon her". At an 1841 meeting of the New England Anti-Slavery Society, French, along with fellow radical abolitionists Nathaniel Peabody Rogers and Stephen Symonds Foster, asked the convention to declare "that the church and clergy of the United States, as a whole, constitute a great brotherhood of thieves, inasmuch, as they countenance and support the highest kind of theft - manstealing" and to "renounce them as Christian Church and clergy." This amendment was opposed by William Lloyd Garrison and defeated.

In September 1843, President John Tyler appointed French Collector of Customs for the Port of New Bedford. However, once Tyler found out that he was a vocal opponent of slavery, he gave up on French's nomination and the Senate refused to confirm him.

French was a member of the Whig Party, but was not liked by the party establishment.

In March 1851, French learned that a United States Marshal planned to raid the town for fugitive slaves. After he observed an unfamiliar ship approaching the harbor, French rang a bell in Liberty Hall to warn local African-Americans.

In addition to his work with the abolition movement, French was also active with the temperance movement and at town meetings. His involvement with the temperance movement was criticized by Samuel Rodman, who believed that French's commitment to temperance was secondary to his commitment "to the ascendency of his political friends".

In 1852, French was the Free Soil candidate for the United States House of Representatives in Massachusetts's 1st congressional district.

French was a delegate to the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1853.

In 1878 and 1880, French ran for the U.S. House of Representatives as a member of the Prohibition Party. He finished third in 1878 and fourth in 1880.

1852 General Election for the United House of Representatives, Massachusetts's 1st congressional district Upon his return, French showed off a number of "relics" he had retrieved from the South, including shells, shots, and pieces of a palmetto tree. He also owned a successful gold mine near Black Hawk, Colorado. French ran the mine himself for some time before leasing it out.

In 1853, a R. G. Dun & Company credit report described French as a "ranting politician" who "owes everybody". Point Road, which opened to the public during French's tenure as mayor, was renamed French Avenue and later Rodney French Boulevard. Ironically, the road that now bears French's name was conceived and advocated by Andrew Robeson, the son-in-law of Samuel Rodman and a member of the city's wealthy merchant class that disliked French.