John Angel James CRESWELL, Congress, MD (1828-1891)

CRESWELL John Angel James , a Representative and a Senator from Maryland; born at Creswells Ferry (now Port Deposit), Cecil County, Md., November 18, 1828; attended the local academy at Port Deposit; graduated from Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., in 1848; studied law; admitted to the bar in Baltimore in 1850 and commenced practice in Elkton, Md.; unsuccessful candidate for election on the Whig ticket in 1850 to the Reform State Convention; member, State house of delegates 1861; affiliated with the Republican Party in 1861; adjutant general of the State 1862-1863; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1863-March 3, 1865); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1864; elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Thomas H. Hicks and served from March 9, 1865, to March 3, 1867; chairman, Committee on Library (Thirty-ninth Congress); appointed Postmaster General by President Ulysses Grant 1869-1874, when he resigned; served as counsel of the United States before the Alabama Claims Commission 1874-1876; resumed the practice of law; president of two banks; died near Elkton, Cecil County, Md., December 23, 1891; interment in Elkton Presbyterian Cemetery.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; Friedenberg, Robert V. "John A.J. Creswell of Maryland: Reformer in the Post Office." Maryland Historical Magazine 64 (Summer 1969): 133-43.

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