History of the Thirty-Ninth Congress of the United States

by William Horatio Barnes

GEORGE V. LAWRENCE, whose father, Joseph Lawrence, was a member of Congress, was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in 1818. He received a liberal education at Washington College, and engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was in 1844 elected a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and was three times re-elected. He served five terms in the State Senate, of which, during his last term of service, he was the Presiding Officer. In 1864 he was elected a Representative from Pennsylvania to the Thirty-Ninth Congress, and was re-elected in 1866.

WILLIAM LAWRENCE was born in Mount Pleasant, Ohio, June 26, 1819. He graduated at Franklin College, Ohio, in 1838, and subsequently taught school in McConnellsville. In 1840 he graduated in the Law Department of Cincinnati College. In 1841 he located in Bellefontaine, Ohio, for the practice of law. In 1842 he was appointed Commissioner of Bankrupts for Logan County. In 1845 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney, and in the same year became proprietor of the "Logan Gazette," of which he was two years the editor. In 1846 he was elected a Representative in the Legislature, and was re-elected in the following year. In 1849 and 1850 he was a member of the Ohio Senate, and again in 1854, having in the interval held the office of Reporter for the Supreme Court. He was the originator of many legislative acts of great importance to the State, among the rest one relating to land titles, known as "Lawrence's Law," and the Ohio Free Banking Law, similar in some respects to the existing National Banking Law. In 1854 he was one of the signers to a call for a State Convention in opposition to the "Kansas-Nebraska Bill." In 1856 he was elected a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and in 1861 was re-elected for a term of five years. In 1862 he had command as Colonel of the Eighty-Fourth Regiment of Ohio Volunteers for three months. In September, 1863, President Lincoln gave him the commission of Judge of the U. S. District Court of Florida, which he declined. In 1864 he was elected a Representative from Ohio to the Thirty-Ninth Congress, and in 1866 he was re-elected.—343, 345, 520.

FRANCIS C. Le BLOND was born in Ohio, and became a lawyer. In 1851 and in 1853 he was elected to the State Legislature and served as Speaker. In 1862 he was elected a Representative from Ohio to the Thirty-Eighth Congress, and was re-elected in 1864. His successor in the Fortieth Congress is William Mungen.—243, 306, 519, 538, 547.

JOHN W. LEFTWICH was born in Bedford County, Virginia, September 7, 1826. He removed with his parents to Tennessee in 1834, and was occupied in farm work in summer, and attending school in winter, until twenty years of age. He served as a private in the Mexican War, and on his return attended the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, where he graduated in 1850. He practiced medicine in Middle Tennessee two years, and then removed to Memphis, where he was occupied with mercantile pursuits until the breaking out of the war. Being loyal to the Union, he found it necessary after the battle of Fort Donaldson to cross the Federal lines. After the occupation of Memphis by the Federal forces in June, 1862, he returned to find that his personal property had been confiscated by the rebels. He resumed business, however, and was elected President of the Memphis Chamber of Commerce on its reörganization. He was elected a Representative from Tennessee to the Thirty-Ninth Congress, to which, with his colleagues, he was admitted in July, 1866. He was nominated for re-election by the "Conservative Party," and was defeated by David A. Nunn.

BENJAMIN F. LOAN was born in Hardinsburg, Kentucky, in 1819. In 1838 he removed to Missouri and engaged in the practice of law. At the breaking out of the rebellion he entered the army, and was appointed Brigadier General. In 1862 he was elected a Representative from Missouri to the Thirty-Eighth Congress, and was re-elected to the Thirty-Ninth and Fortieth Congresses.

JOHN W. LONGYEAR was born in Shandaken, Ulster County, New York, October 22, 1820. Having acquired an academical education, he removed to Michigan in 1844. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1846. In 1862 he was elected a Representative from Michigan to the Thirty-Eighth Congress, and was re-elected in 1864. His successor in the Fortieth Congress is Austin Blair.—447.

JOHN LYNCH was born in Portland, Maine, February 15, 1825. After receiving an academical education he entered upon mercantile pursuits in his native city. After serving two years in the State Legislature he was, in 1864, elected a Representative from Maine to the Thirty-Ninth Congress, and was re-elected in 1866.

SAMUEL S. MARSHALL was born in Illinois, and was educated at Cumberland College, Kentucky. He devoted himself to the practice of law in Illinois, and was elected to the State Legislature in 1846. He served two years as State Attorney, and, in 1851, was elected a Judge of the Circuit Court, and held the office until 1854, when he was elected a Representative from Illinois to the Thirty-Fourth Congress and was re-elected in 1856. He was a delegate to the Chicago Democratic Convention of 1864, and was the same year elected, a Representative to the Thirty-Ninth Congress. He was re-elected in 1866.—148, 352.

GILMAN MARSTON was born in Orford, New Hampshire. In 1837 he graduated at Dartmouth College, and in 1840 at the Dane Law School. He commenced the practice of law in the following year, in 1845 he was elected to the New Hampshire Legislature, and served four years. In 1859 he was elected a Representative from New Hampshire to the Thirty-Sixth Congress, and was re-elected in 1861. In June, 1861, he was appointed Colonel of the Second Regiment of New Hampshire Volunteers, and in 1863 was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. He participated in many battles, and on the fall of Richmond retired from the army. Early in 1865 he was re-elected a Representative in Congress from New Hampshire. His successor in the Fortieth Congress is Jacob H. Ela.—31.

JAMES M. MARVIN was born in Ballston, New York, February 27, 1809. He spent his boyhood on a farm, and received an academical education. When not in public life he has been occupied in managing a large estate. In 1846 he was elected to the Legislature of New York, and subsequently held, for three terms, the office of County Supervisor. In 1862 he was elected a Representative from New York to the Thirty-Eighth Congress, and was re-elected to the Thirty-Ninth and Fortieth Congresses.