William Wright (politician)

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William Wright

William Wright (born November 13, 1794 in Clarksville , Rockland County , New York , †  November 1, 1866 in Newark , New Jersey ) was an American politician who represented the state of New Jersey in both chambers of Congress .

William Wright first attended public schools in his home country and then a private school in Poughkeepsie . During the British-American War he participated in the defense of the city as a volunteer Stonington ( Connecticut in part) against the British forces. He then trained as a saddler and initially practiced this profession in Bridgeport . In 1821 he moved to Newark, where he ran his own saddle and leather business.

Wright served as Mayor of Newark from 1840 to 1843. On May 25, 1843, he was elected to succeed Lewis Condict as the second president of the Morris and Essex Railroad . He held this post until his death. As early as the end of 1842, Wright won the election to the House of Representatives of the United States for the newly created 5th  Congressional constituency of New Jersey. He was a representative of the Whigs in Parliament from March 4, 1843 to March 3, 1847. In 1847 the Whigs put him up as a candidate for governor of New Jersey, but with 48.1 percent of the vote, he was narrowly defeated by Democrat Daniel Haines .

In 1850 Wright moved from the Whigs to the Democrats, for whom he entered the United States Senate on March 4, 1853 . He first spent a six-year term in office until March 3, 1859; he did not succeed in re-election. During this time he was chairman of the Committee on Manufactures , the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses and the Committee on Engrossed Bills . In 1862 he successfully applied for the second Senate seat of New Jersey, which he took from March 4, 1863. Wright died, however, before the end of his term in November 1866 in Newark, where he was also buried.

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personal data
SURNAME Wright, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH November 13, 1794
PLACE OF BIRTH Clarksville , New York
DATE OF DEATH November 1, 1866
Place of death Newark , New Jersey