Littleton Purnell Dennis (July 21, 1786 – April 14, 1834) was an American politician who served in 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 ...

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...

Maryland State Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single- ...

, and in the Maryland Executive Council.

Early life, education, and career

Dennis was born July 21, 1786, at " Beverly" in

Pocomoke City Pocomoke City, dubbed "the friendliest town on the Eastern Shore", is a city in Worcester County, Maryland, United States. Although renamed in a burst of civic enthusiasm in 1878, the city is regularly referred to by its inhabitants simply as P ...

, Worcester County, Maryland, the son of Henry Dennis and Anne Dennis (). Dennis was

tutor TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in co ...

ed at home. He thereafter attended Washington Academy of Somerset County, Maryland, and graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1803. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice. Dennis was a nephew of

John Dennis (1771–1806) John Dennis (December 17, 1771 – August 17, 1806) was a Representative from Maryland. Dennis was born at his family home, Beverly, in Pocomoke City in the Province of Maryland, on December 17, 1771. He completed preparatory studies at Washi ...

and cousin of

Littleton Dennis Jr. Littleton Dennis Jr. (1765–1833) ''Maryland Historic Magazine'' (Summer 1926). was a justice of the Maryland Court of Appeals from 1801 to 1806. Born in Worcester County, Maryland, to Littleton Dennis and Susan (Upshur) Dennis, Dennis inherited ...

and John Dennis (1807–1859).

Political career

In 1810; 1815 and 1816; and again from 1819 to 1821, Dennis served as a member of the

. He was a member of the executive council of Maryland in 1829. From 1827 until resigning in 1833, he served in the Maryland Senate. Dennis was elected as an

Anti-Jacksonian The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States that evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John Qu ...

to the

in 1832 and served from March 4, 1833, until his

death in office A death in office is the death of a person who was incumbent of an office-position until the time of death. Such deaths have been usually due to natural causes, but they are also caused by accidents, suicides, disease and assassinations. The death ...

in 1834. Dennis affiliated himself with the newly-founded Whig Party. Dennis was a

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

1812 Events January–March * January 1 – The ''Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch'' (the Austrian civil code) enters into force in the Austrian Empire. * January 19 – Peninsular War: The French-held fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo Siege of ...

1824 May 7: The almost completely deaf Beethoven premieres his Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven) , Ninth Symphony Events January–March * January 8 – After much controversy, Michael Faraday is finally elected as a member of the Royal Society, ...

, and

1828 Events January–March * January 4 – Jean Baptiste Gay, vicomte de Martignac succeeds the Comte de Villèle, as Prime Minister of France. * January 8 – The Democratic Party of the United States is organized. * January 22 – Arthu ...

Personal life and death

Dennis never was married and had no children. He died April 14, 1834, while in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and was interred in the Congressional Cemetery there.

References

1786 births 1834 deaths Members of the Maryland House of Delegates Yale College alumni People from Pocomoke City, Maryland Burials at the Congressional Cemetery National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland 19th-century American legislators 19th-century Maryland politicians {{Maryland-politician-stub

Early life, education, and career

Political career

Personal life and death

See also

References