Biographical Directory of the
American Congress, 1774-1949

Source: Ancestry.com

Biographies
C
page 998
COCKS, William Willets (brother of Frederick Cocks Hicks), a Representative from New York; born in Old Westbury, Long Island, N.Y., July 24, 1861; attended private schools and Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pa.; engaged in agricultural pursuits; elected commissioner of highways of the town of North Hempstead in 1894; reelected in 1896 and again in 1898; served in the State senate in 1901 and 1902; member of the State assembly in 1904; delegate to the Republican National Convention at Chicago in 1908; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-ninth, Sixtieth, and Sixty-first Congresses (March 4, 1905-March 3, 1911); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1910 to the Sixty-second Congress; again engaged in agricultural pursuits; member of the board of managers of Swarthmore College; president of the Friends Academy, Locust Valley, Nassau County; vice president of the Roslyn Savings Bank; a director of the Bank of Westbury and the Bank of Hicksville; elected mayor of the village of Old Westbury, Long Island, N.Y., in 1924 and served until his death there on May 24, 1932; interment in Friends Cemetery, Westbury, Long Island, N.Y.



Biographies
D
page 1050
DALE, Harry Howard, a Representative from New York; born in New York City December 3, 1868; moved with his parents to Brooklyn in 1870; attended the public schools of Brooklyn and New York Law School; was admitted to the bar May 14, 1891, and commenced practice in Brooklyn, N.Y.; member of the State assembly 1899-1904; attorney for the State comptroller in 1911 and 1912; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-third, Sixty-fourth, and Sixty-fifth Congresses and served from March 4, 1913, to January 6, 1919, when he resigned; appointed judge of the magistrate's court in 1919; reappointed in 1929 and served from January 7, 1919, to July 21, 1931; appointed judge for the court of special sessions on July 22, 1931, and served until his death in Bellmore, Nassau County, N.Y., November 17, 1935; remains were cremated and the ashes deposited in an urn and placed in Fresh Pond Road Crematory, Brooklyn, N.Y.



Biographies
D
page 1063
DAVIS, John William (son of John James Davis), a Representative from West Virginia; born in Clarksburg, Harrison County, W. Va., April 13, 1873; attended various private schools; was graduated from the literary department of Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va., in 1892; taught school; reentered [p.1063] the university and was graduated from its law department in 1895; was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Clarksburg, W. Va.; professor of law at Washington and Lee University in 1896 and 1897; resumed the practice of law in Clarksburg, W. Va., in 1897; member of the State house of delegates in 1899; delegate to the Democratic National Convention at St. Louis in 1904; president of the West Virginia Bar Association in 1906; appointed a member of the West Virginia Commission on Uniform State Laws in 1909; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-second and Sixty-third Congresses and served from March 4, 1911, to August 29, 1913, when he resigned; one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1912 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against Robert W. Archbald, judge of the United States Commerce Court; Solicitor General of the United States 1913-1918; appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Great Britain and served from November 21, 1918, to March 31, 1921; member of the American delegation for conference with Germany on the treatment and exchange of prisoners of war, held in Berne, Switzerland, in September 1918; honorary bencher of the Middle Temple, London, England; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for President of the United States in 1924; is a resident of Nassau County, N.Y., and practices law in New York City.



Biographies
H
page 1252
HALL, Leonard Wood, a Representative from New York; born in Oyster Bay, Nassau County, N.Y., October 2, 1900; attended the public schools; was graduated from the law department, of Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., in 1920; was admitted to the bar in 1921 and commenced practice in New York City; member of the State assembly in 1927 and 1928 and 1934-1938; sheriff of Nassau County, N.Y., 1929-1931; delegate to the Republican State conventions 1930-1946 and to the Republican National Convention at Philadelphia in 1948; elected as a Republican to the Seventy-sixth and to the four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1939-January 3, 1949). Reelected to the Eighty-first Congress.



Biographies
L
page 1467
LITTLETON, Martin Wiley, a Representative from New York; born near Kingston, Roane County, Tenn., January 12, 1872; moved to Texas in 1881 with his parents, who settled in Dallas; attended the common schools; studied law; was [p.1467] admitted to the bar in 1891 and commenced practice in Dallas, Tex.; prosecuting attorney of Dallas County 1893-1896; moved to New York City in 1896 and continued the practice of his profession; district attorney of Kings County, N.Y., 1900-1904; delegate to the Democratic National Convention at St. Louis in 1904; president of the Borough of Brooklyn in 1904 and 1905; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-second Congress (March 4, 1911-March 3, 1913); was not a candidate for reelection in 1912 to the Sixty-third Congress; resumed the practice of law, and resided in New York City and Mineola, Nassau County, Long Island; died at Mineola, N.Y., on December 19, 1934; interment in the Littleton family mausoleum, Woodlawn Cemetery, New York City, N.Y.



Biographies
L
page 1471
LOFT, George William, a Representative from New York; born in New York City February 6, 1865; attended the public schools; engaged in the manufacture of candy from early boyhood; director in several corporations; presidential elector on the Democratic ticket of Wilson and Marshall in 1912 and the ticket of Davis and Bryan in 1924; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-third Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Timothy D. Sullivan; reelected in 1914 to the Sixty-fourth Congress and served from November 4, 1913, to March 3, 1917; was not a candidate for renomination in 1916; resumed the candy manufacturing business until 1929, when he founded the South Shore Trust Co. in Rockville Centre, Nassau County, N.Y., and served as president until his death; also interested in other financial institutions; died in Baldwin, Nassau County, N.Y., November 6, 1943; interment in St. Raymond's Cemetery, Westchester, New York City, N.Y.



Biographies
M
page 1574
MITCHILL, Samuel Latham, a Representative and a Senator from New York; born in Hempstead, Nassau County, N.Y., August 20, 1764; pursued classical studies; studied medicine and was graduated from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1786; studied law and was admitted to the bar; commissioner to purchase the lands of the Iroquois Indians in western New York in 1788; member of the State assembly in 1791 and 1798; professor of chemistry and natural history in Columbia College in 1792; one of the founders of the State Society for the Promotion of Agriculture in 1793; editor of the quarterly, New York Medical Repository, 1797-1813; elected as a Democrat to the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Congresses and served from March 4, 1801, until his resignation November 22, 1804, before the close of the Eighth Congress, having been elected Senator; one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1804 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against John Pickering, judge of the United States District Court of New Hampshire; elected to the United States Senate on November 9, 1804, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Armstrong, but did not qualify immediately, retaining his seat in the House, and served in the Senate from November 23, 1804, to March 3, 1809; elected to the Eleventh Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William Denning; reelected to the Twelfth Congress and served from December 4, 1810, to March 3, 1813; surgeon general of the State militia in 1818; founder and president of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York City 1817-1823; professor of natural history in the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons 1808-1820 and of botany and materia medica 1820-1826; vice president of Rutgers Medical School 1826-1830; died in New York City September 7, 1831; interment in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.



Biographies
P
page 1695
POST, Jotham, Jr., a Representative from New York; born near Westbury, Nassau County, N.Y., April 4, 1771; was graduated from Columbia College, New York City, in 1792; studied medicine but did not practice; engaged in the drug-importing business in New York City; member of the board of aldermen; served in the State assembly 1795 and 1805-1808; director of the New York Hospital 1798-1802; elected as a Federalist to the Thirteenth Congress (March 4, 1813-March 3, 1815); died in New York City, N.Y., May 15, 1817.



Biographies
R
page 1757
ROOSEVELT, Theodore (great-great-grandson of Archibald Bulloch and nephew of Robert Barnwell Roosevelt), a Vice President and a President of the United States; born in New York City October 27, 1858; attended the public schools; was graduated from Harvard University in 1880; studied law; traveled abroad; member of the New York State Assembly 1882-1884; delegate to the Republican National Convention at Chicago in 1884; moved to North Dakota and lived on his ranch; returned to New York City in 1886; appointed by President Harrison a member of the United States Civil Service Commission in 1889 and served until 1895, when he resigned to become president of the New York Board of Police Commissioners; resigned this position upon his appointment by President McKinley as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in April 1897 and served until 1898, when he resigned to enter the war with Spain; during the war organized the First Regiment, United States Volunteer Cavalry, popularly known as Roosevelt's Rough Riders; appointed lieutenant colonel and later colonel of this regiment; Governor of New York in 1899 and 1900; elected Vice President of the United States on the Republican ticket headed by William McKinley in 1900 and was inaugurated March 4, 1901; upon the death of President McKinley on September 14, 1901, became President of the United States and served until March 3, 1905; elected President of the United States on the Republican ticket with Charles W. Fairbanks as Vice President in 1904; was inaugurated March 4, 1905, and served until March 3, 1909; organized a scientific expedition to South Africa, outfitted by the Smithsonian Institution, to gather natural-history materials for the new United States National Museum at Washington, D.C., in 1910; special ambassador of the United States at the funeral of King Edward VII of England in 1910; unsuccessful candidate of the Progressive Party for President of the United States in 1912; headed an exploring party to South America in 1914; was again nominated as a candidate for the Presidency of the United States by the Progressive Party Convention at Chicago in 1916, but declined; engaged in literary pursuits; died at Oyster Bay, Nassau County, N.Y., January 6, 1919; interment in Young's Memorial Cemetery.



Biographies
R
page 1762
ROWE, Frederick William, a Representative from New York; born at Wappingers Falls, Dutchess County, N.Y., March 19, 1863; attended the common schools; was graduated from De Garmo Institute in 1882 and from Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y., in 1887; studied law; was admitted to the bar in New York City in 1889 and practiced in Brooklyn and New York City until 1904, when he became interested in the development of real estate in Brooklyn; president of several companies, including a street railway company; director of the Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn; member of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce; elected as a Republican to the Sixty-fourth, Sixty-fifth, and Sixty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1915-March 3, 1921); was not a candidate for renomination in 1920; resumed his former business activities in New York City; died in Rockville Centre, Nassau County, N.Y., June 20, 1946; interment in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.



Biographies
S
page 1772
SAGE, Russell, a Representative from New York; born in Shenandoah, Oneida County, N.Y., August 4, 1816; moved with his parents to Durhamville in 1818; attended the public schools; engaged in mercantile pursuits in Troy, N.Y.; treasurer of Rensselaer County 1844-1851; alderman of Troy 1845-1848; delegate to the Whig National Convention at Baltimore in 1848; elected as a Whig to the Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth Congresses (March 4, 1853-March 3, 1857); was not a candidate for renomination in 1856; moved to New York City in 1863 and engaged in banking; became president and director of several railroad companies and financial institutions; died in Lawrence, Nassau County, Long Island, N.Y., July 22, 1906; interment in Oakwood Cemetery, Troy, N.Y.



Biographies
S
page 1791
SEARING, John Alexander, a Representative from New York; born in North Hempstead, N.Y., May 14, 1805; completed preparatory studies; sheriff of Queens County, N.Y., 1843-1846; member of the State assembly in 1854; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1857-March 3, 1859); declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1858; died in Mineola, Nassau County, N.Y., May 6, 1876; interment in Greenfield Cemetery, Hempstead, N.Y.



Biographies
W
page 1974
WARD, Elijah (nephew of Aaron Ward), a Representative from New York; born in Sing Sing (now Ossining), N.Y., September 16, 1816; pursued classical studies; engaged in commercial pursuits in New York City and at the same time attended the law department of New York University; was admitted to the bar in 1843 and commenced practice in New York City; judge advocate general of the State 1853-1855; delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Cincinnati in 1856, which nominated James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, for President, and John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, for Vice President; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1857-March 3, 1859); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1858 to the Thirty-sixth Congress; elected to the Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth Congresses (March 4, 1861-March 3, 1865); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1864 to the Thirty-ninth Congress; traveled in Europe for two years, after which he resumed the practice of law in New York City; elected to the Forty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1875-March 3, 1877); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1876 to the Forty-fifth Congress; died in Roslyn, Nassau County, N.Y., February 7, 1882; interment in Woodlawn Cemetery, New York City, N.Y.

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This page was last updated March 1, 2001.