Ohio's 1st Congressional District is located in the south-western portion of the state near the Ohio River. It is speculated that this area contained a thriving community of Copperheads and southern sympathizers due to the proximity to slave-owning states. Ohio's 1st District demonstrates how Ohio was not strictly an Abolition state; sentiments about the slavery and the war were strong on either side of the issue.

George Pendleton, a lawyer from Cincinnati, began his political career in the 1850s. In 1854 Pendleton ran against Timothy C. Day, a Know Nothing Party member, for a seat in the United States House of Representatives. Shorly after Pendleton served in the Ohio Senate from 1854 to 1856. In 1856 Pendleton decided to run again and this time was elected to the House of Representatives as a Democrat from Ohio's 1st Congressional District. Ironically, Pendleton's father, Nathanael Greene Pendleton*, was a member of the Whig Party and served as a representative for the 1st District nearly sixteen years before.

Pendleton was a close associate of Clement Vallindgham and strongly opposed the war. Throughout the Civil War Pendleton was continuously reelected to the House of Representatives. In 1864 Pendleton was chosen as George McClellan's vice-presidential candidate running against Lincoln and Johnson. McClellan and Pendleton lost the election, receiving forty-five percent of the votes. Pendleton also lost reelection to the House of Representative in 1864 and was defeated by Republican Benjamin Eggleston.

*Interesting fact: Ohio Governor William Dennison, Jr. spent several years studying law in the office of Nathaniel G. Pendleton in Cincinnati.

To find out more about George Pendleton visit http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=299

To find out more about Nathanael Pendleton visit http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=P000208

To find out more about Benjamin Eggleston visit http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=E000090