Elbridge Gerry (politician, 1813)

Elbridge Gerry (born December 6, 1813 in Waterford , Oxford County , Massachusetts , † April 10, 1886 in Portland , Maine ) was an American politician . Between 1849 and 1851 he represented the state of Maine in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Elbridge Gerry was a grandson of Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814), who played an important role in the early history of the United States and the state of Massachusetts. The grandfather was a Congressman and Governor of Massachusetts and Vice President of the United States under President James Madison from 1813 until his death in 1814 . The practice of gerrymandering was named after him.

The younger Gerry attended the Brighton Academy . After a subsequent law degree and his admission as a lawyer in 1839, he began to practice in Waterford in his new profession. In 1840 he was employed in the administration of the Maine House of Representatives . In 1841 he became a state bankruptcy administrator. Between 1842 and 1845 Gerry was a district attorney in Oxford County. In 1846 he was elected to the state's House of Representatives himself.

Politically, Gerry was a member of the Democratic Party . In 1848 he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the first constituency of Maine . There he took over from David Hammons on March 4, 1849 . Since he refused to run again in 1850, he was only able to complete one legislative period in Congress until March 3, 1851 . After his tenure in the US House of Representatives, Gerry moved to Portland, Maine, where he worked as a lawyer. Politically, he no longer appeared.

Web links

• Elbridge Gerry in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Elbridge Gerry in the database of Find a Grave (English)