Sydney Emanuel Mudd II (June 20, 1885 – October 11, 1924) was an American attorney and politician from

Maryland's 5th congressional district Maryland's 5th congressional district comprises all of Charles, St. Mary's, and Calvert counties, as well as portions of Prince George's and Anne Arundel counties. The district is currently represented by Democrat Steny Hoyer, the current Ho ...

, elected to several terms as a US Representative in Congress, dying in office. He was a Republican.

Early life and education

Sydney Emanuel Mudd, Jr. was born on June 20, 1885, at his parents' plantation in Gallant Green,

Charles County, Maryland Charles County is a county in Southern Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 166,617. The county seat is La Plata. The county was named for Charles Calvert (1637–1715), third Baron Baltimore. Charles County is part of the Wash ...

, Mudd was the son of Ida (née Griffin) and Sydney Emanuel Mudd, who became a US Congressman. He was raised Catholic, attending the public schools of Charles County and the

District of Columbia ) , 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, ...

. He moved with his parents to

La Plata, Maryland La Plata is a town in Charles County, Maryland, United States. The population was 10,159 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Charles County. History According to an unconfirmed local story, the town was named by one Colonel Samuel Chapm ...

, in 1896. He graduated from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

in 1906 with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

, and from its law school in 1909 with a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree.

Law career

Mudd was admitted to the bar in 1910 in Maryland and Washington, D.C. He served as professor of criminal law at

Georgetown University Law School The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and t ...

in 1910. Like his father, Mudd joined the Republican Party. He was appointed assistant district attorney of the District of Columbia, a federal position, in February 1911.

Political career

Mudd's father had told him he would not be seeking re-election, and his last term as Congressman ended in March 1911. Mudd II resigned as assistant district attorney in March 1911 to campaign for the seat as US Congressman from

. Mudd did not win the Republican nomination in 1912 to run for election to the

Sixty-third Congress The 63rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1913, to ...

. He was reappointed assistant district attorney in July 1912. In March 1914, Mudd resigned again to become a candidate for Congress. He was elected in 1914 from the fifth district of Maryland as a Republican to the

Sixty-fourth Congress The 64th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1915, to M ...

and to the four succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1915, until his death.

Death

He died at

Johns Hopkins Hospital The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 mo ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

from illness on October 11, 1924. He is interred in St. Ignatius’ Catholic Church Cemetery at Chapel Point near La Plata, where his father was also buried.

References

"Mudd, Sydney Emanuel II"
''Maryland Biographical Dictionary'', pp. 388–390 1885 births 1924 deaths Georgetown University alumni Georgetown University Law Center alumni Georgetown University Law Center faculty Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland People from Charles County, Maryland People from La Plata, Maryland 20th-century American politicians {{Maryland-politician-stub

Early life and education

Law career

Political career

Death

See also

References