History of the Thirty-Ninth Congress of the United States

by William Horatio Barnes

CHARLES UPSON was born in Southington, Hartford County, Connecticut, March 19, 1821. He received an academical education, and at the age of sixteen he commenced teaching school, in which he was employed during the winters of seven years. He attended the law school of Yale College for some time, and in 1845 removed to Michigan. In 1848 he was elected County Clerk, and in 1852 Prosecuting Attorney for St. Joseph County. In 1854 he was elected to the State Senate. In 1860 he was elected Attorney General of Michigan, and declined a renomination. In 1862 he was elected a Representative from Michigan to the Thirty-Eighth Congress, and was re-elected to the Thirty-Ninth and Fortieth Congresses.

HENRY VAN AERNAM was born in Marcellus, New York, March 11, 1819. After receiving an academical education and graduating at a medical college, he settled as a physician and surgeon in Franklinville, New York. In 1858 he was a member of the State Legislature. In 1862 he entered the army as surgeon of the One Hundred and Fifty-Fourth New York Regiment. He resigned this position in 1864, and was elected a Representative from New York to the Thirty-Ninth Congress, and was re-elected to the Fortieth Congress.

BURT VAN HORN was born in Newfane, Niagara County, New York, October 28, 1823, and was educated at the Madison University. He was elected to the New York Legislature in 1858, and served three terms. In 1860 he was elected a Representative from New York to the Thirty-Seventh Congress. He was re-elected to the Thirty-Ninth and Fortieth Congresses.—87, 527.

ROBERT T. VAN HORN was born in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, May 19, 1824. After serving an apprenticeship in a printing-office, he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1849. He subsequently published a newspaper two years in Pomeroy, Ohio. In 1855 he emigrated to Kansas City, Missouri, where he established a newspaper which is now the "Daily Journal of Commerce." In 1861 he was elected Mayor of Kansas City. He was in the military service as Major and Lieutenant-Colonel from 1861 to 1864. He was wounded and taken prisoner at Lexington, Missouri, and after his exchange saw much active service in Tennessee. While still in the army, he was elected a member of the Missouri Senate, and in 1864 he was elected a Representative from Missouri to the Thirty-Ninth Congress, and was re-elected in 1866.

PETER G. VAN WINKLE was born in the City of New York, September 7, 1808, and removed to Parkersburg, West Virginia, in 1835. He was a member of the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850, and of the Wheeling Convention of 1861. He aided in forming the Constitution of West Virginia in 1862. He became a member of the Legislature of that State at its organization, and in November, 1863, he was elected a United States Senator from West Virginia for the term ending in 1869.—194, 459.

DANIEL W. VOORHEES was born in Fountain County, Indiana, September 26, 1828. He graduated at the Indiana Asbury University in 1849, and commenced the practice of law in 1851. He held the office of United States District Attorney for three years, by appointment of President Buchanan. In 1860 he was elected a Representative to Congress from Indiana, and re-elected in 1862. He appeared in December, 1865, as a member of the Thirty-Ninth Congress, but remained only a short time, his seat having been successfully contested by Henry D. Washburn.—568.

BENJAMIN F. WADE was born in Feeding Hills Parish, Massachusetts, October 27, 1800. He received a common-school education, and was employed for some time in teaching. At the age of twenty-one he removed to Ohio and engaged in agriculture. He subsequently studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1828. Thereafter he successively held the offices of Justice of the Peace, Prosecuting Attorney for Ashtabula County, State Senator, and Judge of the Circuit Court. In 1851 he was elected a United States Senator from Ohio, and has been twice re-elected, his third term ending in 1869. In March, 1867, he was elected President, pro tempore, of the Senate, and thus became acting Vice-President of the United States—15, 28, 50, 276, 279, 283, 428, 454, 477, 490, 576.

ANDREW H. WARD is a lawyer by profession, and a resident of Cynthiana, Kentucky. He was a Representative from the Sixth District of Kentucky to the Thirty-Ninth Congress. His successor in the Fortieth Congress is Thomas L. Jones.—509.

HAMILTON WARD was born in Salisbury, New York, July 3, 1829. He worked on a farm until nineteen years of age, and was favored with but few facilities for acquiring education. In 1848 he began the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in 1851. In 1856 he was elected District Attorney for Alleghany County, and was re-elected in 1862. At an early period of the war he was appointed by the Governor a member of the Senatorial Military Committee, and in that capacity aided in raising several regiments of volunteers for the army. In 1864 he was elected a Representative from New York to the Thirty-Ninth Congress, and was re-elected in 1866.—306, 361.

SAMUEL L. WARNER was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, in 1829. He received an academical education, and having studied law at the Yale and Harvard Law Schools, was admitted to the bar in 1853. He was soon after appointed Executive Secretary of State. In 1857 he was a member of the Connecticut Legislature. In 1860 he was a delegate and a Secretary of the Baltimore Convention. In 1861 he was elected Mayor of Middletown, and served two terms. In 1865 he was elected a Representative from Connecticut to the Thirty-Ninth Congress. His successor in the Fortieth Congress is Julius Hotchkiss.—507.