William H. Kelsey

William H. Kelsey

William Henry Kelsey (born October 2, 1812 in Smyrna , New York , †  April 20, 1879 in Geneseo , New York) was an American lawyer and politician . Between 1855 and 1859 and between 1867 and 1871 he represented New York State in the US House of Representatives .

Career

William Henry Kelsey was born in Chenango County about three and a half months after the outbreak of the British-American War . He attended community schools. Then he studied law . After receiving his license to practice law in 1843, he began practicing in Geneseo. Between 1840 and 1844 he was guardianship and probate judge in Livingston County and between 1850 and 1853 District Attorney in Livingston County.

Politically, he was a member of the opposition party at that time . In the congressional elections of 1854 for the 34th Congress he was elected in the 28th  constituency of New York to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , where he succeeded George Hastings on March 4, 1855 . In the following years he joined the Republican Party . In 1856 he was elected to the 35th Congress . Since he refused to run for re-election in 1858 , he resigned from Congress after March 3, 1859 . During his first term in office, he chaired the Committee on Engraving .

After his time in Congress, he began practicing law again.

In the congressional elections of 1866 for the 40th Congress , he was elected to the US House of Representatives in the 25th constituency of New York, where he succeeded Daniel Morris on March 4, 1867 . Kelsey was re-elected once and then retired from Congress on March 3, 1871.

He withdrew from the political stage and went back to his work as a lawyer in Geneseo, where he died on April 20, 1879. His body was then interred in Temple Hill Cemetery .

Web links

• William H. Kelsey in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• William H. Kelsey in the database of Find a Grave (English)