Amaziah Bailey JAMES, Congress, NY (1812-1883)

JAMES Amaziah Bailey , a Representative from New York; born in Stephentown, Rensselaer County, N.Y., July 1, 1812; moved with his father to Sweden, Monroe County, N.Y., in 1814; pursued an academic course; at the age of fourteen was apprenticed to the printer's trade in Batavia, N.Y.; moved to Ogdensburg, St. Lawrence County, N.Y., in 1831 and established the Northern Light, a weekly newspaper; later became part owner of the Times and Advertiser, the Whig paper of the county; captain of the Ogdensburg Artillery in 1836; afterward promoted to major general of militia; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1838 and commenced practice in Ogdensburg; elected justice of the State supreme court in 1853; reelected in 1861 and again in 1869 and served until 1876; member of the peace convention of 1861 held in Washington, D.C., in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending war; elected as a Republican to the Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1877-March 3, 1881); while serving his second term in Congress was stricken with paralysis, from which he partially recovered; died in Ogdensburg, N.Y., July 6, 1883; interment in the City Cemetery.

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