Biography

08/28/1806 - 06/16/1872

Thomas Williams (W19) Allegheny and Butler Counties 1838-1841

Early Life: 

Thomas Williams, born August 28, 1806, Greensburg, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania; common schools education; Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 1825; studied law under Judge Richard Coulter; admitted, Westmoreland County bar, 1828; attorney, law practice, Greensburg, Pennsylvania; married, Sarah Donaldson Reynolds Williams, 1831, children, Thomas Williams, Amelia Williams McElfresh, Margaret Donaldson Williams, Agnes Williams Pemberton, Mary Couper Williams, Richard Algernon Williams; moved, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1832, continued law practice; editor, Whig journal The Advocate; elected, Whig, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1838-1841; elected, Republican, United States House of Representatives, 1863-1869; lived in retirement; died, June 16, 1872, Allegheny City, Pennsylvania; interment Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

Early Career:

Attorney.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Whig, Pennsylvania State Senate, 19th district, Allegheny and Butler Counties, 1838-1841. Delivered a widely applauded eulogy in the Pennsylvania State Senate when President William Henry Harrison died soon after taking office. Almost twenty-five years later, he delivered another eulogy at the same location for Abraham Lincoln.

The Senate was initially organized by the Whigs who recognized the disputed election of Whigs James Hanna and William Wagner. This was reversed following the end of the Buckshot War with the seating of Democrats Samuel Stevenson and Michael Snyder. The Whigs regained one seat when Democrat Thomas Bell (Chester) was replaced by Nathaniel Brooke, a Whig.

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

Elected, Republican, Thirty-eighth, Thirty-ninth, and Fortieth Congresses, United States House of Representatives, 1863-1869; one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives, 1868 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against President Andrew Johnson; was not a candidate for renomination, Forty-first Congress, 1868.

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members W". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Thomas Williams (1806-1872) | Dickinson College

Thomas Williams (1806-1872) - Find a Grave Memorial