Theodore M. Pomeroy
Theodore Medad Pomeroy (December 31, 1824 – March 23, 1905) was an American businessman and politician from New York who served as the 26th speaker of the United States House of Representatives for one day, from March 3, 1869, to March 4, 1869, the shortest American speakership term. He represented New York's 24th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1861 to 1869. He also served as the mayor of Auburn, New York, from 1875 to 1876, and in the New York State Senate from 1878 to 1879.[1]
Theodore Medad Pomeroy
25th district (1861–1863)
24th district (1863–1869)
December 31, 1824
Cayuga, New York, U.S.
March 23, 1905 (aged 80)
Auburn, New York, U.S.
Elizabeth Leitch Watson
5
Monroe Academy
Attorney
Early life and education[edit]
Theodore Medad Pomeroy was born on December 31, 1824. He spent his childhood in Elbridge, New York, where he went to live when he was nine years old.[1]
He was educated at the Monroe Academy and at 15, entered Hamilton College[2] as a junior, as students under 13 were not admitted. He graduated in 1842 at age 17 and was ranked in the first division of 6 in a class of 24.[1]
Career[edit]
Legal career[edit]
In May 1843, at the age of 18, he left his parents' home in Cayuga and moved to Auburn, where he entered the firm of Beach & Underwood as a law student. William H. Seward was counsel for the firm as he had just finished serving as the Governor of New York from 1838 to 1842.[3] Christopher Morgan and Samuel Blatchford, who later became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, became associated with the firm. On May 23, 1846,[2] he was admitted to practice as an attorney in the state of New York.[1]
Political career[edit]
In 1847, he was elected by the Whig Party as clerk of Auburn and in 1851, he was nominated by the Whigs and was elected district attorney.[2] He was reelected again in 1853 and served a second term. At the end of his second term he was chosen to be a Member of the New York Assembly by the Republicans to represent the second district of Cayuga and served in the legislature in 1857 but declined renomination.[1]
In September 1860, he was nominated and elected by the Republican Party to represent the 25th congressional district, composed of the counties of Cayuga and Wayne, in the House of Representatives. On July 4, 1861,[4] he took his seat at the extra session of the 37th Congress convened by President Abraham Lincoln, right after the start of the Civil War.[5] He was referred to as the youngest-looking member on the floor by Washington newspaper correspondents, who described him as follows:
Notes
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