John I. Slingerland

John I. Slingerland

John I. Slingerland (born March 1, 1804 in Jerusalem (today Feura Bush ), New York , † October 26, 1861 in Slingerlands , New York) was an American politician . Between 1847 and 1849 he represented New York State in the US House of Representatives .

Career

John I. Slingerland was born and raised in Jerusalem, Albany County , in the early 19th century . During this time he attended public schools. Slingerland became a large landowner . He pursued agricultural business, but also went on other ventures in Albany County - mostly in a hamlet named after his family, Slingerlands, and was part of Bethlehem . He was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1843 and 1844 . Politically, he was a member of the Whig Party at the time.

In the congressional election of 1846 for the 30th Congress , he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the 13th  constituency of New York , where he succeeded Bradford R. Wood on March 4, 1847 . Since he on a run again in 1848 renounced, he left the after March 3, 1849 Congress of. During this time he made headlines across the country in 1848 when he alerted anti- slavery activists to the plight of 76 slaves who tried to flee Washington on a ship, The Pearl . The slaveholders recaptured the ship and sold many of them to people from the deep south. The popularity of Slingerland helped to increase the efforts initiated by the abolitionists to end the slave trade .

After his time at Congress, he pursued activities in the railroad business. He was working to bring the Albany & Susquehanna Line to Bethlehem. He was also active in agriculture again. Slingerland remained an anti-slavery activist. In this context, he joined the Republican Party , after it was founded in 1856, and campaigned for John C. Frémont in the presidential election that same year . He was a member of the New York State Assembly again in 1860 and 1861. He died on October 26, 1861 in Slingerlands and was buried there in the family mausoleum.

Web links

• John I. Slingerland in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• John I. Slingerland in the database of Find a Grave (English)