Cornelius Darragh

Cornelius Darragh was the son of early (1815) Pittsburgh burgess John Darragh and Peggy Calhoun, born in Pittsburgh in 1809; attended the Western University of Pennsylvania (Pitt); graduated in 1826; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1829 at age 20; and opened a private practice in Pittsburgh.  Darragh served as a Whig member of the state Senate, 1835-1838; US District Attorney for the western district of Pennsylvania, 1841-1844; elected to the US House of Representatives after filling William Wilkins’ vacant seat, 1844-1847;  was Attorney General of Pennsylvania, 1849 to 1851; and died in Pittsburgh  on December 22, 1854; interred in Allegheny Cemetery. He married Mary Holmes Simpson in 1830.