José Francisco Chaves

José Francisco Chaves

José Francisco Chaves (born June 27, 1833 in Padillas , Mexico , † November 26, 1904 in Pinoswells , New Mexico ) was an American politician . Between 1865 and 1867 and between 1869 and 1871 he represented the New Mexico Territory as a delegate in the US House of Representatives .

Early years

José Chaves was born in Padillas in what is now New Mexico. At the time of his birth, this area still belonged to the Mexican province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México . He received his school education in St. Louis , Missouri . He then studied at the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons Medicine . After finishing his studies, he moved to the New Mexico Territory, where he worked as a rancher.

Promotion to Congress Member

Chaves served as a member and president of the Territorial Governing Council of New Mexico for eight terms. During the Civil War he served as a major and later as a lieutenant colonel in the Union Army. He became a member of the Republican Party and was elected as its candidate in 1864 as a delegate in the US House of Representatives. There he replaced Francisco Perea on March 4, 1865 . In the elections in 1866 he was defeated by Charles P. Clever of the Democratic Party . Chaves had to give up his delegate seat on March 3, 1867. However, he appealed against Clever's election, which was then upheld. On February 20, 1869, two weeks before the end of the March 3 legislature, he was given back his seat in Congress , which he was able to hold until March 3, 1871, because he had won the regular elections of 1868 for the new legislative period . In the next elections, however, Chaves was defeated by the Democrat José Manuel Gallegos .

Another résumé

After his political stint in Washington , Chaves was a farmer and rancher in New Mexico. Between 1875 and 1877 he was a district attorney in the New Mexico Territory's Second Legal District. In 1889 he was President of the New Mexico Constituent Assembly. From 1903 he was school minister of the territory. In the same year he was entrusted with the processing of its history as State Historian . José Chaves could no longer take up this post because he was assassinated on November 26, 1904.

Web links

• José Francisco Chaves in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Jose Francisco Chaves in the database of Find a Grave (English)