Eliakim Persons Walton

Eliakim Persons Walton

Eliakim Persons Walton (born February 17, 1812 in Montpelier , Vermont , † December 19, 1890 there ) was an American politician . Between 1857 and 1863 he represented the first constituency of the state of Vermont in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Eliakim Walton attended public schools in his home country and then completed an apprenticeship in the printing trade. Although he studied law, he never had a legal profession. Instead, he began a journalistic career. He became the publisher of the newspaper "Walton's Vermont Register". He was also the founder and president of the Newspaper Publishers Association of his homeland for over 20 years. After his father, who was also active in the newspaper business, retired in 1853, Eliakim Walton became the sole owner of the Watchman newspaper until 1868. In 1853 he was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives. Walton was also involved in funding the Vermont railroad construction.

Politically, he became a member of the Republican Party founded in 1854 . In 1856 he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC as their candidate in the first district of Vermont . There he took over from George Tisdale Hodges on March 4, 1857 . After two re-elections, he was able to complete three legislative terms in Congress by March 3, 1863 . There he witnessed the outbreak of the civil war and the departure of Congressmen from the southern states. For the elections in 1862 he decided not to run again.

After the end of his time in Congress, Walton returned to his journalistic interests. But he remained politically active and was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Baltimore in 1864 , at which US President Abraham Lincoln was nominated for a second term. In 1870 he was a member of an assembly to revise the Vermont state constitution; Walton was a member of the State Senate between 1875 and 1877 . Between 1875 and 1887 he was also a curator of the University of Vermont and the State Agricultural College . From 1876 to 1890, Walton headed the Vermont Historical Society . He died in December 1890 in his native Montpelier. Eliakim Walton was initially married to Sarah Sophia Howes. After her death in 1880, he married Clara Field in 1882.

Web links

• Eliakim Persons Walton in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Eliakim Persons Walton in the database of Find a Grave (English)