Joseph Augustine Scranton (July 26, 1838 – October 12, 1908) was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who represented

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, ...

in 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 1881 to 1883, 1885 to 1887, 1889 to 1891, and 1893 to 1897.

Life and career

Scranton was born in

Madison, Connecticut Madison is a town in the southeastern corner of New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, occupying a central location on Connecticut's Long Island Sound shoreline. The population was 17,691 at the 2020 census. Madison was first settled in 16 ...

on July 26, 1838. When he was a boy, his family moved to Pennsylvania, settling in the

Lackawanna Valley The Lackawanna River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in Northeastern Pennsylvania. It flows through a region of the ...

in northeastern Pennsylvania. This area was developed for anthracite coal mining, and as the site of the city of

Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...

, which was named after the family. Joseph Scranton attended

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

, and

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

from 1857 to 1861. After completing his studies at Yale, Scranton served as "collector of internal revenue" from 1862 until 1866, a post of political patronage. In 1867 he founded the ''Scranton Daily Republican''

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

. He served as a delegate to the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

in 1872. He was appointed as Scranton's United States

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

from March 19, 1874, to May 5, 1881.

He married Ada Elizabeth Meylert, the daughter of General Amos N. Meylert, one of the most prominent citizens of Northern Pennsylvania of his day. Her grandfather, Secku Meylert, was a native of Cassel, Prussia. He was associated in banking operations with Rothchilds. He could speak half a dozen languages, was educated in Paris, and became acquainted with Napoleon Bonaparte. After Napoleon's defeat he immigrated to the United States and purchased a large tract in Pennsylvania and settled at Montrose. Some years later he married Abigail Nichols of Montrose, daughter of a deacon of the Baptist Church. Their eldest son, Amos N. Meylert, married Anna Dennis. General Meylert and his family moved to Butler, where he became interested in the building of railroads and developing coal, iron and the resources of the country, amassing a considerable fortune. Ada Meylert attended the Greenwood Institute at New Brighton. Later they moved to Scranton, where she met J.A. Scranton, who belonged to the old Scranton family of Connecticut. They had one daughter who married Lieut. D.L. Tate, and one son, Robert Meylert Scranton who married Helen L. Sperry in 1890. In 1880, Scranton was elected to Congress for the first time, serving in the

47th Congress The 47th 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, 1881, ...

. He was defeated in 1882, but won in 1884. He was defeated again in 1886, but won a third term in 1888. Scranton ran again in 1890 but was defeated, after which he resumed his newspaper career. He was subsequently elected to two consecutive terms in 1892 and 1894. In 1896, he chose not to run and re-entered the newspaper business, joining the ''Daily Republican'' as both

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

and

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

. Scranton entered political life again, being elected as Treasurer of

Lackawanna County Lackawanna County (; unm, Lèkaohane) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania and had a population of 215,896 as of the 2020 census. Its county seat and largest city is Scranton. The county ...

from 1901 to 1903. He died in Scranton in 1908. Joseph Scranton was second cousin to industrialist

George W. Scranton George Whitfield Scranton (May 11, 1811 – March 24, 1861) was an American industrialist and politician, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania from March 4, 1859, until his death in 1861. Moving to Penns ...

, founder of Lackawanna Iron & Coal and the city of Scranton. His grandnephew, William Warren Scranton, was elected as

Governor of Pennsylvania A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, serving 1963–1967, and also served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; and his great-grandnephew,

William Scranton, III William Worthington Scranton III (born July 20, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 26th lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987 in the administration of Governor Richard Thornburgh. He is the son of the late Pennsyl ...

, served as

Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania The lieutenant governor is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The lieutenant governor is elected for a four-year term in the same year as the governor. Each party picks a candidate for lieutenant governor independently o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scranton, Joseph A. 1838 births 1908 deaths Phillips Academy alumni Yale University alumni Politicians from Scranton, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania postmasters People from Madison, Connecticut Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania 19th-century American legislators