((Since I don't really have anything to add to a debate here, I'll finish off an old friend...))
SACRAMENTO SENTINEL
VICE-PRESIDENT JARVIS DEAD
January 3, 1897
We received word from the Jarvis family that the elderly family patriarch, Henry James Jarvis has died. He was found in his bed, dead from a heart attack. Over the last few years, his health had been in significant decline; indeed, he had rarely been seen since his retirement from politics in 1890. There has been no official statement from his grandson, Governor Joseph P. Jarvis (R-Ca), though we are expecting one for tomorrow's paper. He was ninety-four.
Henry Jarvis was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 24, 1802, to Charles A. Jarvis, a successful businessman and Revolutionary War veteran, and Elizabeth Adams-Jarvis, a distant relative to Presidents John Adams and John Q. Adams. As a young college student (attending Harvard), he became influenced by the liberals and abolitionists, and soon became a staunch supporter of a free market and a free nation. After graduating, he joined his father's business. When the Texan War of Independence began, he, and a few friends and associates, volunteered and headed to San Antonio, where they constantly harassed Mexican patrols. Becoming a strong force in the War, he was chosen to be the Secretary of State for the new Texas Republic. In this capacity, he was instrumental in getting Texas into the United States as a free state. He then ran for Lt. Governor, but was driven out by pro-slavery groups after Texas was allowed to become a slave state. He arrived in California in 1840, and by 1842, he became a force for pro-American immigrants.
When the Mexican-American war broke out, he and other pro-American leaders, formed the California Union Militia, with Jarvis as commander in chief. Shortly after beating the main Mexican force in the region, they declared the Republic of California, with Jarvis as Governor (he chose that office rather than president), and applied for statehood. With the war going on, the Congress could not review the bill, so California joined as a territory, with Jarvis remaining governor. His governorship was, until Oliver Glynne, the longest in California history (1842-1854). With his term over, he ran, and easily, won a California Senate seat. His biggest achievement was getting his Indian Citizenship Bill passed with broad support.
In 1872, the seventy year old Senator announced his candidacy for President. Despite strong showings, he was unable best the popular general, Maximilian Mandrake (R-Oh). To better unify the party, Jarvis was made Vice-President. The term was uneventful overall, and Mandrake opted out of running for a second term, instead endorsing his aging Vice-President. Jarvis, now the oldest candidate running, handily beat his longtime ally Calvin Carr (who was also recently beaten for the ACP nomination at age 70) and chose him be Vice-President. Jarvis-Carr was beaten by social democrat Eamon Callahan in a coalition ticket. With this defeat, he worked to become a Justice for the California Supreme Court. Jarvis would once again seek the nomination, at age 78, in 1880. This defeat marked the last attempt by Jarvis for the presidency.
Jarvis spent the last decade of his political career in marked silence, dedicated wholly to California, becoming Chief Justice in 1881. A the age of ninety, Jarvis announced his retirement, right as his grandson began his first moves for Governor.