John Bassett ALLEY, Congress, MA (1817-1896)

ALLEY John Bassett , a Representative from Massachusetts; born in Lynn, Essex County, Mass., January 7, 1817; attended the common schools; at the age of fourteen was apprenticed as a shoemaker, but was released at nineteen; moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1836; freighted merchandise up and down the Mississippi River; moved to Lynn, Mass., in 1838 and entered the shoe manufacturing business; established a hide and leather house in Boston in 1847; member of the first board of aldermen of Lynn in 1850; member of the Governor's council 1847-1851; served in the State senate in 1852; member of the constitutional convention of 1853; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-sixth and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1859-March 3, 1867); chairman, Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads (Thirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth Congresses); was not a candidate for renomination in 1866; became connected with the Union Pacific Railroad; abandoned active business pursuits in 1886 and lived in retirement until his death in West Newton, Mass., January 19, 1896; interment in Pine Grove Cemetery, Lynn, Mass.

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