George Denison (February 22, 1790 – August 20, 1831) was a member of the

United States 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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

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, ...

Biography

Denison (uncle of

Charles Denison Charles Denison (January 23, 1818 – June 27, 1867) was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Charles Denison (nephew of George Denison) was born in Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania. He received a liberal ed ...

) was born in

Kingston, Pennsylvania Kingston is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located on the western bank of the Susquehanna River opposite the city of Wilkes-Barre. Kingston was first settled in the early 1770s; it was incorporated as a borough in ...

. He attended the Wilkes-Barre Academy. He served as clerk of the

Wilkes-Barre Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the secon ...

borough council from 1811 to 1814, and member of the council for many years, serving as president in 1823 and 1824. He served as recorder and registrar of

Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Luzerne County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeastern Pennsylvania's second-largest county by total area. As of ...

, from 1812 to 1815. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1813 and commenced practice in Luzerne County. He was a member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

in 1815 and 1816. He was elected as a Republican to the

Sixteenth The 16th century begins with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (Roman numerals, MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (Roman numerals, MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar ...

and Seventeenth Congresses. He served as chairman of the

United States House Committee on Expenditures in the Post Office Department The Committee on Oversight and Reform is the main investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one of the most influential and powerful panels in the ...

in the Seventeenth Congress. He was not a candidate for renomination. He resumed the practice of law and served as deputy attorney general for Luzerne County in 1824. He was again elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1827, and served until his death. He was burgess of Wilkes-Barre Borough in 1829 and 1830. He died in Wilkes-Barre in 1831. Interment in Hollenback Cemetery.

Sources

The Political Graveyard
Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives People from the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area People from Kingston, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania lawyers 1790 births 1831 deaths Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American lawyers {{Pennsylvania-Representative-stub