Lemuel Amerman (October 29, 1846 – October 7, 1897) was an American lawyer and politician who served one term 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 ...

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, ...

from 1891 to 1893.

Life and career

Lemuel Amerman was born near Danville, Pennsylvania. He attended the Danville Academy, and graduated from

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...

in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1869. He taught school for three years. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1873 and commenced practice in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. He moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1876 and continued the practice of law. He was also engaged in banking. He served as solicitor for Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, in 1879 and 1880. He was a member of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives from 1881 to 1884. One of the important bills that he fathered and championed was an act providing for free public instruction in Pennsylvania. He was elected city comptroller of Scranton in 1885 and 1886, and reporter of the decisions of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1886 and 1887. For seven years, he was superintendent of the dynamic and socially concerned Penn Avenue Baptist Church in Scranton (later Immanuel Baptist Church).

Congress

Amerman was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-second Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1892. He continued the practice of law in Scranton until his death in

Blossburg, Pennsylvania Blossburg is a borough in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,536 at the 2020 census. History In 1792, a party of immigrants who were building the Williamson Road from Williamsport, in Lycoming County, to Painted Post ...

, at the age of 50. Interment in Forest Hill Cemetery in Scranton.

Personal life

After the death of his first wife, he married Mary Caroline Van Nort (born September 2, 1859), who was in the first graduating class of Scranton High School. She later became a public school teacher in Scranton. Lemuel and Mary Amerman had a son, Ralph, born 1884, and a daughter, Mary Caroline, born February 14, 1886. The mother died in childbirth on that day. In 1910, Mary Caroline Amerman married Frederick Lewis of Norfolk, Virginia. Frederick Lewis eventually became the Vice President of the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch Corp and of Norfolk Newspapers, Inc. In 1940, their daughter, Mary Caroline Lewis married Eleuthere Paul DuPont Jr (son of the founder of DuPont Motors). Lemuel Amerman died in

Blossburg Blossburg is a borough in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,536 at the 2020 census. History In 1792, a party of immigrants who were building the Williamson Road from Williamsport, in Lycoming County, to Painted Post ...

on October 7, 1897.

References

Sources

The Political Graveyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amerman, Lemuel 1846 births 1897 deaths Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Pennsylvania lawyers People from Danville, Pennsylvania Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania People from Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Politicians from Scranton, Pennsylvania People from Tioga County, Pennsylvania Bucknell University alumni 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American lawyers