John B. Penington

John Brown Penington (born December 20, 1825 in New Castle , Delaware , †  June 1, 1902 in Dover , Delaware) was an American politician . Between 1887 and 1891 he represented the state of Delaware in the US House of Representatives .

Career

John Penington received classical training in New Castle and Newark . He then attended Jefferson College in Canonsburg ( Pennsylvania ). In the following years he worked as a teacher in Indiana . After returning to Delaware, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1857. He then began to practice in Dover in his new profession.

Penington was a member of the Democratic Party . In 1857 he was elected to the Delaware House of Representatives and served on the administration of that body in 1859, 1863, and 1871. In 1860, Penington was a delegate at both Democratic National Conventions , which were held separately according to the regions North and South due to a split in the party in the run-up to the Civil War . In 1868 he was appointed Attorney General for the Delaware District by President Andrew Johnson . He held this office until 1872. Between 1874 and 1878 Penington was Attorney General of Delaware. In 1886 he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , where he replaced Charles B. Lore on March 4, 1887 . After a re-election in 1888, he was able to complete two terms in Congress until March 3, 1891 .

In 1890 Penington declined to run again. Then he worked again as a lawyer. John Penington was married to Rebecca Rowan. The last years of his life were overshadowed by the murder of his two daughters, Elizabeth and Ida, who fell victim to a poison attack behind which Elizabeth's husband and his lover were behind. John Penington died on June 1, 1902 in Dover, where he was also buried.

Web links

• John B. Penington in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• John B. Penington in the database of Find a Grave (English)