Thomas Fitzgerald (politician)

Thomas Fitzgerald

Thomas Fitzgerald (born April 10, 1796 in Germantown , Herkimer County , New York , †  March 25, 1855 in Niles , Michigan ) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ) who represented the state of Michigan in the US Senate .

Thomas Fitzgerald, whose father immigrated from Ireland and fought in the Continental Army in the War of Independence , also joined the military after completing his schooling. As a member of the US Army , he took part in the British-American War , where he was seriously wounded. After the war he first worked as a teacher at a school in Marcellus . From 1819 he practiced this profession in his new home Boonville ( Indiana ), where he also completed a legal education. He was inducted into the Bar in 1821 and began practicing in Boonville.

Now Fitzgerald took over his first public office. In 1821 and again between 1825 and 1827 he was a member of the Indiana House of Representatives . After being named lighthouse keeper at the mouth of the St. Joseph River in 1832 , he moved to St. Joseph , Michigan. He later became the chief clerk in Berrien County and served on the governing body of the University of Michigan .

In 1838 Thomas Fitzgerald was appointed the state's banking officer to investigate irregularities at some financial institutions. The following year he became a member of the Michigan House of Representatives and ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor . Finally, he took the place of former US Secretary of War Lewis Cass in the Senate in Washington from June 8, 1848 . This had resigned his mandate in order to prepare his candidacy for the office of the US president . However, Cass lost the election to Whig Zachary Taylor and then returned to the Senate.

Thomas Fitzgerald's tenure in Congress thus ended on March 3, 1849. He then moved to Niles and held the post of probate judge in Berrien County from 1852 to 1855.

Web links

• Thomas Fitzgerald in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Thomas Fitzgerald in the database of Find a Grave (English)