George Barnes Grigsby

George Barnes Grigsby (1920)

George Barnes Grigsby (born December 2, 1874 in Sioux Falls , Dakota Territory , †  May 9, 1962 in Santa Rosa , California ) was an American politician . Between 1920 and 1921 he represented the Alaska Territory as a delegate in the US House of Representatives .

Early years

George Grigsby was a brother of Sioux K. Grigsby (1873-1968) and John T. Grigsby (1890-1931), both of whom were lieutenant governors of South Dakota . He attended his home public schools and South Dakota State University in Vermillion . After completing a law degree, he was admitted to the bar in 1896. He then began to work in Sioux Falls in his new profession. During the Spanish-American War he was a lieutenant in a cavalry regiment. In 1902 he moved to Nome in the Alaska Territory.

Advancement in the Alaska Territory

Grigsby became a member of the Democratic Party . From 1902 to 1908 he was deputy federal prosecutor and from 1908 to 1910 regular federal prosecutor . In 1911 he became a lawyer for the city of Nome, and was elected mayor in 1914. Grigsby was also a member of a commission that campaigned for uniform legislation in Alaska ( Commissioner for the promotion of uniform legislation ). From 1916 to 1919, Grigsby was the first Attorney General in the Alaska Territory. After the death of Congress delegate Charles August Sulzer , he was elected as his successor to the US House of Representatives. He took up this mandate on June 3, 1920. At this time, however, there was still a challenge against Sulzer's election in 1918 by former Congress delegate James Wickersham . After this objection was granted, Grigsby had to give up his mandate on March 1, 1921. For the remaining two days leading up to March 3, 1921, Wickersham became a delegate from Alaska.

Even after his tenure in Congress ended , Grigsby remained politically interested. In 1920 and 1924 he was a delegate at the respective Democratic National Conventions . Otherwise he worked as a lawyer in various cities in Alaska over the course of the following decades. He died in California in May 1962.

Web links

• George Barnes Grigsby in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• George Barnes Grigsby in the database of Find a Grave (English)