When my hometown was laid out in 1819, several of the streets were named after statesmen of the time: John Randolph, Arthur St. Clair, Richard M. Johnson, Ninian Edwards, and Albert Gallatin. Although there is a Main Street, Gallatin St has always been Vandalia's primary thoroughfare and business district. Albert Gallatin himself was a Swiss-born politician and diplomat who was secretary of the treasury in 1801-1814 (Jefferson's and Madison's administration). He also represented Pennsylvania in the US House and Senate, and was US minister to the UK and to France. In 1794, he calmed the protesters in the Whiskey Rebellion because the army could intervene. Gallatin also studied Native American languages and has been called "the father of American ethnology." He also founded New York University. ALSO, he had the idea for a National Road. When he died in 1849, he was the last surviving member of Jefferson's cabinet and the last surviving senator from the 18th century. Since photography was new in the 1840s, he lived long enough to sit for a picture. He was born January 29, 1761. There will be no quiz on all this, LOL.
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