James Thorington

James Thorington

James Thorington (born May 7, 1816 in Wilmington , North Carolina , †  June 13, 1887 in Santa Fe , New Mexico ) was an American politician . Between 1855 and 1857 he represented the state of Iowa in the US House of Representatives .

Career

In 1827, James Thorington moved with his parents to Montgomery , Alabama . There he attended public schools. Between 1830 and 1832 he graduated from the military school in Fayetteville (North Carolina). From 1832 to 1835 Thorington studied at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa . He then completed a law degree in Montgomery. Between 1837 and 1839 he lived in the west and worked as a trader and trapper on the upper Missouri River and the upper reaches of the Columbia River .

In 1839 Thorington settled in Davenport, what later became the state of Iowa. After being admitted to the bar in 1844, he began to work there in his new profession. He was mayor of that city between 1843 and 1847 and was also a probate judge in Scott County from 1843 to 1851 . From 1846 to 1854 he was employed in the administration of the local district court.

Thorington was a member of the Whig Party and was elected to the House of Representatives in Washington, DC in 1854 as its candidate in the second constituency of Iowa . There he succeeded his party colleague John Parsons Cook on March 4, 1855 , who had not been nominated again because of his friendly attitude towards slavery . Since he renounced another candidacy in 1856, Thorington could only serve one term in Congress until March 3, 1857 . This was overshadowed by the events and discussions leading up to the civil war. During this time, the Whig Party also broke up. Thorington then became a member of the newly formed Republican Party .

Between 1859 and 1863 he was sheriff in Scott County; from 1864 to 1868 he was an administrative clerk ( recorder ) in this district. Between 1873 and 1882 Thorington was the American consul and commercial agent in Colombia . After a stroke that he suffered around 1886, he went on a vacation to his daughter in Santa Fe in what was then New Mexico . James Thorington died there on June 13, 1887. He was buried in Davenport.

Web links

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

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