Arthur Granville Dewalt (October 11, 1854 – October 26, 1931) was an American politician from
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, ...
who served as a
Democratic member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
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 ...
for
Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district from 1915 to 1921.
Biography
Arthur G. Dewalt was born in
Bath, Pennsylvania
Bath is a borough in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, Bath had a population of 2,808. It is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th most populous metropolitan area in ...
. He graduated from the
Keystone State Normal School in 1870 and from
Lafayette College
Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...
in
Easton, Pennsylvania
Easton is a city in, and the county seat of, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a river tha ...
, in 1874 and was a member of the
Chi Phi Fraternity
Chi Phi () is considered by some as the oldest American men's college social fraternity that was established as the result of the merger of three separate organizations that were each known as Chi Phi. The earliest of these organizations was for ...
.
He studied law under
John D. Stiles, was admitted to the bar in 1877 and commenced practice at
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...
, in 1878. He was district attorney of
Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
Lehigh County (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Lechaa Kaundi'') is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 374,557. , from 1880 to 1883. He was admitted to the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme J ...
in 1883 and to all the courts of Philadelphia in 1888.
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 ...
for the 16th district from 1903 to 1910. In 1906, he led the investigation of the
Pennsylvania State Capitol
The Pennsylvania State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Pennsylvania located in downtown Harrisburg which was designed by architect Joseph Miller Huston in 1902 and completed in 1906 in a Beaux-Arts style with decorative ...
Graft Scandal. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1904 and 1908, and chairman of the Democratic State committee in 1909 and 1910. He served as adjutant of the Fourth Regiment of the
Pennsylvania National Guard
The Pennsylvania National Guard is one of the oldest and largest National Guards in the United States Department of Defense. It traces its roots to 1747 when Benjamin Franklin established the Associators in Philadelphia.
With more than 18,000 per ...
for ten years.
Dewalt was elected as a Democrat to the
Sixty-fourth,
Sixty-fifth, and
Sixty-sixth Congresses. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1920. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1926. He resumed the practice of law at Allentown, where he later died. He is interred at Fairview Cemetery in Allentown.
References
Sources
.
Arthur Granville Dewaltat
The Political Graveyard
The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations of ...
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dewalt, Arthur G.
1854 births
1931 deaths
20th-century American politicians
American Lutherans
Burials in Pennsylvania
County district attorneys in Pennsylvania
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
Kutztown University of Pennsylvania alumni
Lafayette College alumni
Pennsylvania lawyers
Pennsylvania National Guard personnel
Democratic Party Pennsylvania state senators
Politicians from Northampton County, Pennsylvania