James Kerr (October 2, 1851 – October 31, 1908) was a member of the
United States House of Representatives and later the
Clerk of the United States House of Representatives.
Biography
Kerr was born in
Reedsville,
Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, October 2, 1851; resided in
Blair County
Blair County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 122,822. Its county seat is Hollidaysburg. The county was created on February 26, 1846, from parts of Huntingdon and Bedford counties.
Blai ...
until 1864; moved to Clearfield in 1867; pursued an academic course. He was a member of the
Pennsylvania State Senate
The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...
from 1869 to 1871.
He was also a justice of the peace in 1878; prothonotary for
Clearfield County
Clearfield County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 80,562. The county seat is Clearfield, and the largest city is DuBois. The county was created in 1804 and later organized in 1822.
C ...
in 1880 and 1883; engaged in the coal and lumber business; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-first Congress (March 4, 1889 – March 3, 1891); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1890; during the Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses was appointed
Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and served from March 4, 1891 to March 3, 1895; resumed business interests; died in New York City October 31, 1908; interment in Hillcrest Cemetery,
Clearfield, Pennsylvania.
References
1851 births
1908 deaths
Democratic Party Pennsylvania state senators
Clerks of the United States House of Representatives
People from Mifflin County, Pennsylvania
People from Blair County, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania prothonotaries
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
19th-century American legislators
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