Member Biography

Asa Keeler Dewitt 

Member
Sessions Office Position District Party
1911-1912       20 Democrat
1913-1914       20 Democrat
1915-1916       20 Democrat
1917-1918       20 Democrat
1919-1920       20 Democrat
1921-1922       20 Democrat
1923-1924       20 Democrat
1925-1926       20 Democrat

COUNTIES: Luzerne  


Biography

10/17/1854 - 04/13/1935


Asa Keeler DeWitt (D20) Luzerne County 1911-1926 

Early Life:

Asa Keeler DeWitt, born October 17, 1854, White’s Ferry, Falls Township, Wyoming County, Pennsylvania; son of Amos and Elizabeth C Keeler DeWitt; public school education; Wyoming Seminary; farming and manufacturing interests; treasurer, Plymouth borough; clerk, First National Bank of Plymouth, 1874-1890; banking cashier, First National Bank of Plymouth, 1890-1898; elected, delegate, Democrat State Convention, Williamsport, 1895; vice president, First National Bank of Plymouth, 1898-1932; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1911-1926;  director, First National Bank of Plymouth, 1932-1936; unmarried; died, April 13, 1935, (aged 82) diabetic condition, Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania; interment, South Eaton Cemetery, Wyoming County, Pennsylvania.

Early Career:

Clerk, First National Bank of Plymouth, 1874-1890.

Banking cashier, First National Bank of Plymouth, 1890-1898.

Vice president, First National Bank of Plymouth, 1898-1932.

Director, First National Bank of Plymouth, 1932-1936.

Pennsylvania Politics: 

Elected, delegate, Democrat State Convention, Williamsport, 1895.

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 20th district, Luzerne County, 1911-1926; committee assignments: Appropriations, Banks and Building and Loans Association, City Passenger Railways, Exposition Affairs, Finance, Insurance, Judiciary Special, Law and Order, Library, Public Roads and Highways.

Legacy:

At the time severed longer than any other citizen of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1911-1926. 

Cited:

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

The Pennsylvania Manual, (1924). Whitmore, R.E., (Compiler). Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 983, 988, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 962.

Berwick Enterprise (Berwick, Pennsylvania) Monday April 15, 1935, Page 2.

Asa Keeler DeWitt Obituary, Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, Evening News April 15, 1935, Page 11.

Asa Keeler DeWitt (1852-1935) - Find a Grave Memorial