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Francis James (congressman)

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For other people named Francis James, see Francis James (disambiguation).
Francis James
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 4th district
In office
March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1843
Preceded bySee below
Succeeded byCharles Jared Ingersoll
Member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 4th district
In office
1835-1836
Preceded byGeorge C. Smith
Succeeded bySamuel A. Smith
Personal details
Born(1799-04-01)April 1, 1799
Thornbury Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
DiedJanuary 4, 1886(1886-01-04) (aged 86)
West Chester, Pennsylvania
Resting placeOaklands Cemetery, West Chester, Pennsylvania
Political partyAnti-Masonic
Whig

Francis James (April 4, 1799 – January 4, 1886) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who was an Anti-Masonic and Whig member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district from 1839 to 1843.

Biography

Francis James was born in Thornbury Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. He attended the local public schools and Gauses' Academy. He began reading law in 1823 and gained admittance to the bar of Chester County, Pennsylvania in May 1825. He commenced practice in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He married Sarah H. James of Westtown Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, on September 7, 1826, and had one daughter, Anna M. James. He was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 4th district, serving from 1835 to 1836, and again for the 3rd district, serving from 1837 to 1838.[1][2]

In October 1838, James was elected as an Anti-Mason to the 26th U.S. Congress and in 1840 reelected as a Whig to the 27th Congress. He served from March 4, 1839 to March 3, 1843. During his second term, Representative James chaired the House Committee on Revisal and Unfinished Business. According to J. Smith Futhey and Gilbert Cope (1881), while in Congress James "took a strong anti-slavery position and by speech and vote resisted the encroachments of the slave power."[3]

After departing from Congress, he resumed his legal practice in West Chester and served as the borough's chief burgess in 1850. He died in West Chester on January 4, 1886, and is interred at Oaklands Cemetery.[1][2]

References

  1. ^ a b "James, Francis (1799–1886)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  2. ^ a b "Pennsylvania State Senate Historical Biographies: Francis James". The official website for the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  3. ^ Futhey, John Smith; Cope, Gilbert (1881). History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with Genealogical and Biographical Sketches. Philadelphia: L. H. Everts. p. 613.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district
1839–1843

1839–1841 alongside: John Edwards and Edward Davies
1841–1843 alongside: Jeremiah Brown and John Edwards

Succeeded by
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