William Adam Piper (May 21, 1826,

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, ...

– August 5, 1899,

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

) was an American politician and a businessperson. He was a one-term 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

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

from 1875 to 1877.

Biography

William Adam Piper was born on May 21, 1826, in Franklin County,

. He attended the common schools and later moved to

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. During the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

, he served in Company A, Eighth Missouri Light Artillery, from June 8, 1846, to June 24, 1847. He moved to California in 1848 and settled in

in 1849, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. William Adam Piper was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the

44th United States Congress The 44th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. ) , image_sk ...

. He received only 49.06% of the vote, the opposition being divided between Iva P. Rankin running as a Republican and the independent candidate John F. Swift. Piper served from March 4, 1875, until March 3, 1877. In 1876, he was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election to the

45th United States Congress The 45th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1877, ...

. He continued his business activities, and he died on August 5, 1899, in San Francisco, California. He was interred in Odd Fellows Cemetery in San Francisco, California and re-interred at Greenlawn Memorial Park in Colma, California.

References

Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California 1826 births 1899 deaths 19th-century American politicians Burials at Odd Fellows Cemetery (San Francisco, California) {{California-Representative-stub