Edward Kavanagh (April 27, 1795 – January 22, 1844) was a

United States 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 ...

and the

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Governor of Maine. Born in Newcastle (in modern-day

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, then a part of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

) to Irish Catholic immigrants from

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

. He later attended Montreal Seminary (in Quebec, Canada) and Georgetown College in

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. He graduated from St. Mary's College (

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) in 1813. He studied law, was admitted to the

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and commenced practice in Damariscotta, Maine. He was a member of the

Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via p ...

from 1826 to 1828, and was secretary of the state senate in 1830. Kavanagh's public career began with a plea to the framers of the Maine Constitution to include an article for official religious toleration. His first elected role was on the school committee, followed by roles as selectman, state representative, and state senator. In 1829 the legislature elected him as secretary of state. Kavanagh was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-second and Twenty-third Congresses, serving from March 4, 1831, to March 3, 1835. He was nationally noticed as the first

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

elected from New England. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1834 to the Twenty-fourth Congress, and was appointed Chargé d'Affaires to Portugal on March 3, 1835, and served until his resignation in June 1841. He was one of the four Maine commissioners on the northeastern boundary in 1842 in the negotiations that led to the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, and was a member of the Maine Senate in 1842 and 1843 and served as the

president of the Maine Senate The position of President of the Maine Senate was created when Maine separated from Massachusetts and achieved statehood in 1820. The Maine Legislature had one year terms until 1880, when an amendment to the Maine Constitution took effect to prov ...

Governor of Maine

Kavanagh became Governor of Maine upon the election of Governor Fairfield on March 7, 1843, to replace U.S. Senator

Reuel Williams Reuel Williams (June 2, 1783July 25, 1862) was an American lawyer and politician who served one term as a U.S. Senator from Maine from 1837 to 1843. Early life and career Born in Hallowell, Maine to Seth Williams and Zilpha Ingraham, he attende ...

upon William's resignation, and served until the end of the term in 1844. Less than four weeks later, Kavanagh died in Newcastle; interment was in St. Patrick's Catholic Cemetery, Damariscotta Mills. Kavanagh's

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

in Newcastle has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

References

External links

*
Edward Kavanagh biography
at ''National Governors Association'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Kavanagh, Edward 1795 births 1844 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Portugal Democratic Party members of the Maine House of Representatives 19th-century American diplomats Presidents of the Maine Senate Democratic Party Maine state senators Democratic Party governors of Maine People from Damariscotta, Maine St. Mary's Seminary and University alumni Maine Democratic-Republicans Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Maine 19th-century American politicians People from Newcastle, Maine Georgetown College (Georgetown University) alumni