James Lowry Donaldson MORRISON, Congress, IL (1816-1888)

MORRISON James Lowry Donaldson , a Representative from Illinois; born in Kaskaskia, Ill., April 12, 1816; appointed midshipman in the Navy in 1832 and served until December 31, 1839, when he resigned; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Belleville, Ill.; member of the State house of representatives in 1844; raised a company and served in the Mexican War as lieutenant colonel of Bissell's regiment of Illinois Volunteers from July 1, 1846, to July 1, 1847; was presented a sword by the Illinois legislature for services at Buena Vista; member of the State senate in 1848; unsuccessful Whig candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 1852; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fourth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Lyman Trumbull and served from November 4, 1856, to March 3, 1857; at the same election was not the nominee for the Thirty-fifth Congress; was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Illinois in 1860; died in St. Louis, Mo., on August 14, 1888; interment in Calvary Cemetery.

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