John Littleton Dawson (February 7, 1813 – September 18, 1870) was a Democratic member of the

U.S. 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

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, ...

Early life and education

Dawson was born in

Uniontown, Pennsylvania Uniontown is a city in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, southeast of Pittsburgh and part of the Greater Pittsburgh Region. The population was 10,372 at the 2010 census, down from 12,422 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat and ...

, and grew up in

Brownsville, Pennsylvania Brownsville is a borough in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, first settled in 1785 as the site of a trading post a few years after the defeat of the Iroquois enabled a post-Revolutionary war resumption of westward migration. The Tradin ...

. He graduated from

Washington College Washington College is a private liberal arts college in Chestertown, Maryland. Maryland granted Washington College its charter in 1782. George Washington supported the founding of the college by consenting to have the "College at Chester" name ...

with a degree in law, was granted admission to the bar in 1835, and ran a small law practice. He served as deputy attorney general for

Fayette County, Pennsylvania Fayette County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in southwestern Pennsylvania, adjacent to Maryland and West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 128,804. Its county seat is Uniontown. The county wa ...

, in 1838, and as district attorney for the western district of Pennsylvania from 1845 until 1848.

Political career

1848 1848 is historically famous for the wave of revolutions, a series of widespread struggles for more liberal governments, which broke out from Brazil to Hungary; although most failed in their immediate aims, they significantly altered the polit ...

he unsuccessfully ran for congress 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 ...

, but on subsequent attempts he was elected and served in the

32nd 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

and 33rd congresses, from March 4, 1851, until March 3, 1855, when he stepped down, declining the nomination for the next term. While serving as a congressman he was the chairman of the Committee on Agriculture. During his time away from congress, President Franklin Pierce offered him the governorship of Kansas Territory, but he declined so that he could run for congress again, which he was elected to again in 1863, and served on the 38th and 39th congresses from March 4, 1863, until March 3, 1867. His vote on the Thirteenth Amendment is recorded as nay. He was a delegate to Democratic National Convention from Pennsylvania, 1844,

1860 Events January–March * January 2 – The discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France. * January 10 – The Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Massachusett ...

1868 Events January–March * January 2 – British Expedition to Abyssinia: Robert Napier leads an expedition to free captive British officials and missionaries. * January 3 – The 15-year-old Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji of Jap ...

. He retired to his home in

Springfield Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania Springfield Township is a township in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,730 at the 2020 census. The Connellsville Area School District serves the township. Normalville, Mill Run, Rogers Mill, and Pleasant Hill a ...

, where he died at age 57. He was interred at Christ Episcopal Churchyard in Brownsville. In 1860 he was honored as the namesake of

Dawson County, Nebraska Dawson County is a county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 24,326. Its county seat is Lexington. Dawson County is part of the Lexington, NE Micropolitan Statistical Area. In the Nebraska ...

, in what was then Nebraska Territory.

Sources

The Political Graveyard
*Nebraska State Historical Society timeline http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/timeline/dawson-john-l.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, John Littleton 1813 births 1870 deaths Washington & Jefferson College alumni Politicians from Fayette County, Pennsylvania People from Uniontown, Pennsylvania Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania United States Attorneys for the Western District of Pennsylvania 19th-century American legislators