George Darsie

Sessions	Position	District	Party
1842		19	Whig
1843		19	Whig
1844		24	Whig
1845		24	Whig
1846		24	Whig
1847		24	Whig
1848	Speaker	24	Whig
1849	Speaker	24	Whig
1850		24	Whig
1854		22	Whig
1855		22	Whig

COUNTIES: Allegheny, Butler

Biography

08/25/1800 - 03/03/1883

George Darsie (Whig19) Allegheny and Butler Counties 1842-1843 (Whig24) Allegheny and Butler Counties 1842-1850 (Whig22) Allegheny and Butler Counties 1853-1855

Early Life:

George Darsie, born August 25, 1800, Anstruther, Fife, Scotland; son of James and Nancy (Smith) Darsie; attorney; carpentry, cabinet maker, lumber business; attorney, clerk and prothonotary, Allegheny Court of Common Pleas; married, Nancy, 1831, (d. 1834), daughter, Nancy Hazleton Darsie; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1836-1837; elected, Whig, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1840-1841; elected, Pennsylvania Canal Commissioner, 1842; elected, Whig, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1842-1850, elected, Senate Speaker 1848-1849; elected, Whig, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1853-1855; unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania Canal Commissioner, 1854; director, treasurer, Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad; president, Western Insurance Company; died, March 3, 1883, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; interment, Union Dale Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

Early Career:

Carpentry, cabinet maker, lumber business; attorney, did not join the bar, clerk, prothonotary, Allegheny Court of Common Pleas; organizer, Western Pennsylvania Historical Society, 1834; director, treasurer, Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad (later the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago Railroad); 1856-1860; president, Western Insurance Company; member, Allegheny Fire Company.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1836-1837.

Elected, Whig, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1840-1841.

Elected, Pennsylvania Canal Commissioner, 1842.

Elected, Whig, Pennsylvania State Senate, 19th district, Allegheny and Butler Counties, 1842-1843; elected, Whig, Pennsylvania State Senate, 24th district, Allegheny and Butler Counties, 1844-1850, Private Claims for Damages (Chairman), Finance (Chairman) Committees; elected, Senate Speaker, 1848-1849, left office due to redistricting, 1850.

Elected, Whig, Pennsylvania State Senate, 22nd district, Allegheny County, 1853-1855; cosponsored, Senate bill Number 135, incorporating, Farmer’s High School, Centre County, now known as Pennsylvania State University, 1855.

Unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania Canal Commissioner, 1854.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography:

Official Website - PA House Archives Official Website (state.pa.us)

Legacy:

Daughter, Nancy Hazleton Darsie, married, Pennsylvania State Senator George Holmes Anderson, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 1871-1876; Pennsylvania State Senate Speaker, 1873.

George Holmes Anderson - Pennsylvania Senate Library (pasen.gov)

Cited:

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

Historical Society Notes and Footnotes: Contributions by Pittsburgh Scholars to the Dictionary of American History. Alfred P. James and Robert D. Christie. 1957. Retrieved from

View of Historical Society Notes and Footnotes | Western Pennsylvania History: 1918 - 2020 (psu.edu)

The Pittsburgh Daily Commercial, March 4, 1865, pg. 1.

#491 - The Legislative Record: Containing the Debates ... 1865. - Full View | HathiTrust Digital Library

#492 - The Legislative Record: Containing the Debates ... 1865. - Full View | HathiTrust Digital Library

Recollections of Early Times on the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad, Thomas L. Rodgers. 1920. Retrieved from View of Recollections of Early Times on the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad | Western Pennsylvania History: 1918 - 2020 (psu.edu)

The Pittsburgh post. (Pittsburgh [Pa.]) 1859-1864, November 22, 1862, Image 4 « Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive (psu.edu)

#162 - Journal. 1855. - Full View | HathiTrust Digital Library

#12 - Journal. 1842 pt.1. - Full View | HathiTrust Digital Library

#10 - Journal. 1843 pt.1. - Full View | HathiTrust Digital Library

#13 - Journal. 1842 pt.1. - Full View | HathiTrust Digital Library

#10 - Journal. 1844 pt.1. - Full View | HathiTrust Digital Library

#10 - Journal. 1845 pt.1. - Full View | HathiTrust Digital Library