Francis KERNAN, Congress, NY (1816-1892)

KERNAN Francis , a Representative and a Senator from New York; born in Wayne, Schuyler County, N.Y., January 14, 1816; attended public schools; graduated from Georgetown College, District of Columbia, in 1836; studied law in Watkins, N.Y.; admitted to the bar in 1840 and practiced in Utica; reporter of the court of appeals of New York 1854-1857; member, State assembly 1861; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1863-March 3, 1865); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1864; member of the State constitutional conventions in 1867 and 1868; unsuccessful candidate for Governor of New York in 1872; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1875, to March 3, 1881; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1880; chairman, Committee on Patents (Forty-sixth Congress); resumed the practice of law; member of the board of regents of the University of the State of New York 1870-1892; died in Utica, Oneida County, N.Y., September 7, 1892; interment in St. Agnes Cemetery.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present