Denver Samuel Church (December 11, 1862 – February 21, 1952) was an American lawyer and politician who served three terms as a

U.S. Representative 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 c ...

from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

from 1913 to 1919, then a fourth term from 1933 to 1935.

Biography

Born in

Folsom, California Folsom is a city in Sacramento County, California, United States. It is commonly known for Folsom State Prison, the song "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash, as well as for Folsom Lake. The population was 80,454 at the 2020 census. Folsom is pa ...

, Church attended the common schools. He was graduated from Healdsburg (California) College in 1885 and then studied law. Church was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1893 and commenced practice in

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

. He served as district attorney of Fresno County from 1907 to 1913, and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1916.

Congress

Church was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the Sixty-third, Sixty-fourth, and Sixty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1919). On April 5, 1917, he was one of 50 representatives who voted against declaring war on Germany. He did not seek renomination in 1918. He resumed the practice of law in Fresno and served as a judge of the Fresno County Superior Court from 1924 to 1930. Church was elected to the Seventy-third Congress (March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935), but was not a candidate for renomination in 1934. He resumed the practice of law and died in Fresno on February 21, 1952. He was interred in

Belmont Memorial Park Belmont Memorial Park is a cemetery located in Fresno, Fresno County, California. Notable interments Notable burials include: * Henry Ellsworth Barbour (1877–1945), U.S. Representative * Denver Church (1862–1952), U.S. Representative * Walter ...

. He is the maternal grandfather of famed film director

Sam Peckinpah David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic ''The Wild Bunch'' received an Academy Award nomination and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Institute ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Church, Denver Samuel 1862 births 1952 deaths Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California San Francisco Bay Area politicians