William Darius Bishop (September 14, 1827 – February 4, 1904) was a Democratic 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

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

4th district Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

from 1857 to 1859. He also was a member of the

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an ...

in 1872, and in the

Connecticut Senate The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sena ...

from 1866 to 1874, and from 1877 to 1878. He was the president of the

Naugatuck Railroad Company Founded in 1996, the Naugatuck Railroad is a common carrier railroad owned by the Railroad Museum of New England and operated by Naugatuck Railroad on tracks leased by Naugatuck Railroad from the Connecticut Department of Transportation. The orig ...

and the New York and New Haven Railroad Company

Biography

BridgeportPublicLibraryJuliaAnnTomlinson

Bishop was born in

Bloomfield, New Jersey Bloomfield is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the township's population was 53,105. It surrounds the Bloomfield Green Historic District. History The initial patent for the land that w ...

son of Alfred Bishop and Mary (Ferris) Bishop, and pursued preparatory studies. Graduating 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 1849, he studied law, and was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

but did not practice. He married Julia A. Tomlinson in 1850, and they had six children.

Career

Bishop carried on his father's railroad enterprises which involved the construction of the

Naugatuck Naugatuck is a consolidated borough and town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town spans both sides of the Naugatuck River just south of Waterbury and includes the communities of Union City on the east side of the river, which ...

and the

New York and New Haven Railroad The New York and New Haven Railroad (NY&NH) was a railroad connecting New York City to New Haven, Connecticut, along the shore of Long Island Sound. It opened in 1849, and in 1872 it merged with the Hartford & New Haven Railroad to form the New ...

s in Connecticut and the railroad between Saratoga Springs and Whitehall in New York. He was a founder of the Eastern Railroad Association and its president until the time of his death. Bishop 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 Thirty-fifth Congress for the 4th District and served from March 4, 1857, to March 3, 1859. He was chairman of the Committee on Manufactures (Thirty-fifth Congress). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1858 to the Thirty-sixth Congress, but served as Commissioner of Patents from May 23, 1859, to January 1860. He was a delegate to Democratic National Convention from Connecticut in 1860. As well as being vice president and president of the

New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

Company, Bishop served as a member of the

in 1866 and 1871. He was also in the

in 1877 and 1878.

Death

Bishop died of chronic endocarditis, a heart disease, in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the List of cities by population in New England, fifth-most populous ...

, on February 4, 1904 (age 76 years, 143 days). He was cremated and his ashes are interred at Mountain Grove Cemetery.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop, William Darius 1827 births 1904 deaths Democratic Party Connecticut state senators Democratic Party members of the Connecticut House of Representatives Burials at Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport Yale College alumni People from Bloomfield, New Jersey Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut 19th-century American politicians Deaths from endocarditis