James Parker (politician, 1776)

James Parker (born March 3, 1776 in Bethlehem , Hunterdon County , Province of New Jersey , †  April 1, 1868 in Perth Amboy , New Jersey ) was an American politician . Between 1833 and 1837 he represented the state of New Jersey in the US House of Representatives .

Career

After the Revolutionary War , James Parker moved to Perth Amboy. He later studied at Columbia College in New York City until 1793 . Then he cultivated and administered the large estates inherited from his father. He also worked as a surveyor. At the same time he began a political career. Between 1806 and 1827 he was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly on several occasions . In 1815 he served as Mayor of Perth Amboy. In this city he also headed the customs authorities between 1829 and 1833.

In the 1820s, Parker joined the movement around the future President Andrew Jackson . He became a member of the Democratic Party founded by him in 1828 . In the congressional elections of 1832 he was elected for the fourth seat of New Jersey in the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , where he succeeded Thomas H. Hughes on March 4, 1833 . After re-election, he was able to complete two legislative terms in Congress until March 3, 1837 . There has been heated discussion of President Jackson's policies there since President Jackson took office. It was about the controversial enforcement of the Indian Removal Act , the conflict with the state of South Carolina , which culminated in the nullification crisis , and the banking policy of the president.

After his tenure in the US House of Representatives, James Parker resumed his previous activities. In the following years he was a member of several commissions to define the borders between the states of New Jersey and New York . In 1844 Parker was a delegate to a meeting to revise the state constitution. He died in Perth Amboy on April 1, 1868, at the age of 92. His grandson Richard W. Parker (1848–1923) was also a member of Congress.

Web links

• James Parker in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• James Parker in the database of Find a Grave (English)