Melville Clyde Kelly

Melville Clyde Kelly (1912)

Melville Clyde Kelly (born August 4, 1883 in Bloomfield , Muskingum County , Ohio , †  April 29, 1935 in Punxsutawney , Pennsylvania ) was an American politician . Between 1913 and 1915 and again from 1917 to 1935 he represented the state of Pennsylvania in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Melville Kelly attended his home public schools and Muskingum College in New Concord . In the following years he worked in Braddock, Pennsylvania in the newspaper industry. In 1904 he founded the Braddock Leader newspaper ; in 1907 he bought the Daily News and the Evening Herald , which he merged and published under the name Daily News-Herald . At the same time he embarked on a political career as a member of the Republican Party . Between 1910 and 1913 he was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives .

In the 1912 congressional election , Kelly was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , in the 30th constituency of Pennsylvania , where he succeeded John Dalzell on March 4, 1913 . Since he was not confirmed in 1914, he was initially only able to complete one legislative period in Congress until March 3, 1915 . In 1913 the 16th and 17th amendments were ratified. It was about the nationwide introduction of income tax and the direct election of US senators .

After the temporary end of his time in the US House of Representatives, Kelly worked again in the newspaper industry. In the meantime, he joined the Progressive Party founded by former President Theodore Roosevelt . In 1919 he returned to the Republicans. In the elections of 1916 Kelly was re-elected as a progressive in the 30th district of his state in Congress, where he replaced William Henry Coleman on March 4, 1917 , who had become his successor two years earlier. After eight re-elections he was able to spend nine more legislative terms in the US House of Representatives until January 3, 1935. The First World War and the Great Depression fell during this time . In addition, the 18th and 19th amendments to the Constitution were ratified in 1919 and 1920 . It was about the ban on trade in alcoholic beverages and the nationwide introduction of women's suffrage . The 18th Amendment was repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933 . In 1935 the provisions of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution were applied for the first time , according to which the legislative period of the Congress ends or begins on January 3rd. Since 1933, the first New Deal laws of the Roosevelt government were passed in Congress, which Kelly's party was rather hostile to.

Melville Kelly represented until 1923 the 30th, from 1923 to 1933 the 33rd and from 1933 the 31st district of his state in Congress. In 1934 he was not re-elected. Then he worked in the newspaper business. He died on April 29, 1935 in a Punxsutawney hospital from a gunshot wound accidentally sustained while cleaning a rifle.

Web links

Commons : Melville Clyde Kelly  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Melville Clyde Kelly in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Clyde Melville Kelly in the database of Find a Grave (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
John Dalzell	United States House Representative for Pennsylvania (30th constituency) March 4, 1913 - March 3, 1915	William Henry Coleman
William Henry Coleman	United States House Representative for Pennsylvania (30th constituency) March 4, 1917 - March 3, 1923	Everett Kent
new constituency	United States House of Representatives for Pennsylvania (33rd constituency) March 4, 1923 - March 3, 1933	Henry Elbow
Adam Martin Wyant	United States House Representative for Pennsylvania (31st constituency) March 4, 1933 - January 3, 1935	James L. Quinn