John B. Alley
John Bassett Alley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts | |
| In office March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1867 | |
| Preceded by | Timothy Davis (6th) Samuel Hooper (5th) |
| Succeeded by | Daniel W. Gooch (6th) Benjamin Butler (5th) |
| Constituency | 6th district (1859–63) 5th district (1863–67) |
| Member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1853 | |
| In office 1853–1853 | |
| Member of the Massachusetts Executive Council | |
| In office 1847–1851 | |
| Member of the Massachusetts State Senate Essex District | |
| In office 1852–1852 | |
| Member of the Lynn, Massachusetts Board of Aldermen | |
| In office 1850–1850 | |
| Preceded by | None, New office |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 7, 1817 Lynn, Massachusetts, USA |
| Died | January 19, 1896 (aged 79) West Newton, Massachusetts |
| Resting place | Pine Grove Cemetery |
| Political party | Liberty Party Free Soil Party Republican |
| Spouse | Hannah Maria Rhodes |
| Children | John Stewart Alley, Emma Rhodes Alley |
| Profession | Shoe Manufacture |
John Bassett Alley (January 7, 1817 – January 19, 1896) was a businessman and politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts.
Early life
Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, Alley attended the common schools and Phillips Academy Andover. At the age of fourteen was apprenticed to work for a shoemaker. Alley was released at nineteen. In the meantime, his parents, John B. Alley Sr. and Mercy Buffum Alley, and his younger sister, Sarah Buffum Alley, joined the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) in 1832, later renamed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,[1][2] and moved to Nauvoo, Illinois where Sarah was one of the first women to marry polygamously, and became the first woman in Mormon history to bear a child as a polygamist.[3] He moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1836. Freighted merchandise up and down the Mississippi River. He returned to Lynn, Massachusetts in 1838 and entered the shoe manufacturing business. He established a hide and leather house in Boston in 1847. He served as member of the first Board of Aldermen of Lynn, Massachusetts in 1850.
Political career
He served as member of the Governor's council 1847–1851. He served in the State senate in 1852. He served as member of the constitutional convention of 1853.
Alley was a Free Soil Candidate for Congress in 1852.[4] Alley was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-sixth and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1867). He served as chairman of the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads (Thirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth Congresses). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1866. He became connected with the Union Pacific Railroad.
During the 1880s and 1890s Alley was involved in a protracted lawsuit known as the Snow-Alley case which damaged his health and cost him a large part of his fortune.[5] Alley abandoned active business pursuits in 1886 and lived in retirement until his death in West Newton, Massachusetts, January 19, 1896. He was interred in Pine Grove Cemetery, Lynn, Massachusetts.
References
- ^ "Minutes of a Conference", Evening and Morning Star, vol. 2, no. 20, p. 160.
- ^ H. Michael Marquardt and Wesley P. Walters (1994). Inventing Mormonism: Tradition and the Historical Record (Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books) p. 160.
- ^ Bergera, Gary James. "Identifying the Earliest Mormon Polygamists, 1841–44" (PDF). Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
- ^ Barstow, Benjamin (22 September 1853), Speech of Benjamin Barstow, of Salem: on the abolition propensities of Caleb Cushing. Delivered at the Massachusetts National Democratic Convention, held at Boston, Sept. 22, 1853. to Franklin Pierce:., Boston, Massachusetts: Office of the National Democrat, p. 6
- ^ "Ex-Congressman Alley Seriously Ill", The New York Times, p. 2, August 31, 1893
Bibliography
- United States Congress. "John B. Alley (id: A000155)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- John B. Alley at Find a Grave
- Barstow, Benjamin: Speech of Benjamin Barstow, of Salem, page 6, (1853).
- History of Essex County, Massachusetts: With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men pages 360–361, (1888).
- Hobbs, Clarence W.: Lynn and Surroundings, page 139, (1886).
- Johnson, David Newhall: Sketches of Lynn, Or, The Changes of Fifty Years, pages 468–471, (1880).
| Post Office and Post Roads (1808–1947) |
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| (Reform in the) Civil Service* (1893–1947) | ||
| Post Office and Civil Service (1947–1995) | ||
| Note | *Name shortened from Reform in the Civil Service to Civil Service in 1925. | |
This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1817 births
- 1896 deaths
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts
- Massachusetts state senators
- Massachusetts Libertyites
- Massachusetts Free Soilers
- Massachusetts Republicans
- Politicians from Lynn, Massachusetts
- Businesspeople from Massachusetts
- Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
- 19th-century American politicians
- Massachusetts Republican Party chairs