George Tener OLIVER, Congress, PA (1848-1919)

OLIVER George Tener , a Senator from Pennsylvania; born January 26, 1848, in County Tyrone, Ireland, during a visit abroad of his parents, who at that time were residents of Pittsburgh, Pa.; attended the common schools and Pleasant Hill Academy, West Middletown, Pa.; graduated from Bethany (W.Va.) College 1868; taught school; studied law; admitted to the bar of Allegheny County, Pa., in 1871 and practiced in Pittsburgh, Pa.; retired from his profession in 1881 and engaged in steel and wire manufacturing until 1901, when he disposed of his interests; president of the Pittsburgh Central Board of Education 1881-1884; presidential elector on the Republican ticket in 1884; engaged in the newspaper business in 1900 and became publisher of the Pittsburgh Gazette-Times and Pittsburgh Chronicle-Telegraph; declined the appointment as United States Senator in 1904 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Matthew S. Quay; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1909 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Philander C. Knox; reelected in 1911 and served from March 17, 1909, to March 3, 1917; chairman, Committee on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard (Sixty-first Congress), Committee on Canadian Relations (Sixty-second Congress), Committee on Manufactures (Sixty-second Congress), Committee on Forest Reservations and Game Protection (Sixty-fourth Congress); declined to be a candidate for reelection; retired from public life and resided in Pittsburgh, Pa., until his death there January 22, 1919; interment in Allegheny Cemetery.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; Schlup, Leonard. "George T. Oliver: Pittsburgh's Politician in the Progressive Era." Journal of the Alleghenies 32 (1996): 68-84.

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