Abner Lacock (July 9, 1770April 12, 1837) was an American surveyor, civil engineer, and politician from

Rochester, Pennsylvania Rochester is a borough in central Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located northwest of Pittsburgh, it is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 3,480 at the 2020 census. Like many places around Pittsburgh, ...

. He served in both houses in the state legislature and represented

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in both the

U.S. House The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

and

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Biography

Abner Lacock was born on July 7, 1770, near

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

in the

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...

. He moved with his parents to

Washington County, Pennsylvania Washington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 209,349. Its county seat is Washington. Washington County is part of the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county i ...

, as a youth. In 1796 he moved to

Beaver, Pennsylvania Beaver is a borough in and the county seat of Beaver County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located at the confluence of the Beaver and Ohio Rivers, approximately northwest of Pittsburgh. As of the 2020 census, the borough population ...

. He was a justice of the peace in 1796. He also worked as an innkeeper. He served in the

Pennsylvania State Legislature The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania ...

from 1801 to 1803. He was an associate judge of the Beaver County Court from 1803 to 1804. He served again in the State legislature from 1804 to 1808. He was member of the Pennsylvania Militia and served as brigadier general in 1807. He was a member of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

from 1808 to 1810. Lacock was elected as a Democratic Republican to the Twelfth Congress. He was re-elected to the

Thirteenth In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octa ...

Congress but resigned before it commenced, having been elected Senator. He was elected to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

as a Democratic Republican in 1812. He served as chairman of the

United States Senate Committee on Pensions The Committee on Pensions was a standing committee of the United States Senate from 1816 to 1946, when the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 abolished it, moving its functions to the Committee on Finance. Purpose Although the Committee was ...

during the

Fifteenth In music, a fifteenth or double octave, abbreviated ''15ma'', is the interval between one musical note and another with one-quarter the wavelength or quadruple the frequency. It has also been referred to as the bisdiapason. The fourth harmonic, ...

Congress. After he left Congress, he was appointed a State commissioner to survey routes for

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

s and

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

s in Pennsylvania in 1825. He again served in the State legislature from 1832 to 1835. He was appointed to survey and construct the Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal in 1836. He died near

Freedom, Pennsylvania Freedom is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States, located along the Ohio River northwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 1,495 at the 2020 census. Originally founded as a steamboat building town, chief industries later incl ...

, in 1837. Interment in Lacock Cemetery in Rochester, Pennsylvania. Abner was frequently referred to as ''General Lacock'' after he served as a brigadier general in the state militia.

External links

The Political Graveyard
1770 births 1837 deaths Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Pennsylvania state senators United States senators from Pennsylvania Democratic-Republican Party United States senators American surveyors American civil engineers Politicians from Alexandria, Virginia People from Beaver, Pennsylvania Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Engineers from Virginia Engineers from Pennsylvania 19th-century American politicians {{Pennsylvania-Representative-stub