Isidor Rayner (April 11, 1850November 25, 1912) was a
Democratic member of the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
, representing the
State of Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
from 1905 to 1912. He also represented the
Fourth Congressional District of Maryland from 1887 to 1889, and 1891 to 1895.
Rayner was born into a
German-Jewish
The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321 CE, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish commu ...
family
in
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
, Maryland, and attended local private schools. He later attended the
University of Maryland, Baltimore
The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1807, it is the second oldest college in Maryland and comprises some of the oldest professional schools of dentistry, law, me ...
, and the
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
. He began to study law and was admitted to the Maryland
bar in 1871.
Rayner was elected to the
Maryland House of Delegates
The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the Maryland General Assembly, legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House ...
and served from 1878 to 1884. In 1885, he was elected to the
Maryland State Senate
The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single ...
, serving one year until 1886.
Rayner was elected the same year to the 50th
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1888 to the 51st Congress, but was victorious in the next two elections to the 52nd and 53rd Congresses. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1894.
Five years later in 1899, Rayner was chosen to be the
Attorney General of Maryland
The Attorney General of the State of Maryland is the chief legal officer of the State of Maryland in the United States and is elected by the people every four years with no term limits. To run for the office a person must be a citizen of and qual ...
, serving until 1903. He was elected as a Democrat in 1905 to the U.S. Senate, and was reelected again in 1911. While senator, he served as chairman of the
Committee on Indian Depredations (Sixty-second Congress).
In 1912, Rayner died in Washington, D.C., while serving as senator. He is buried at
Rock Creek Cemetery
Rock Creek Cemetery is an cemetery with a natural and rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, off Hawaii Avenue, NE, in the Petworth (Washington, D.C.), Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C., across ...
.
See also
*
List of Jewish American jurists
This is a list of notable Jewish American jurists. For other famous Jewish Americans, see Lists of American Jews.
Supreme Court of the United States
United States courts of appeals
United States district courts
* Ronnie Abrams, J ...
*
List of Jewish members of the United States Congress
This is a list of Jewish members of the United States Congress. , there are 10 American Jews, Jewish senators and 25 Jewish members of the House of Representatives serving in the United States Congress.
Senate
Elected to the Senate, but not ...
*
References
External links
*
Isidor Rayner, late a senator from Maryland, Memorial addresses delivered in the House of Representatives and Senate frontispiece 1914
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayner, Isidor
1850 births
1912 deaths
American people of German-Jewish descent
Democratic Party Maryland state senators
Maryland attorneys general
Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates
Politicians from Baltimore
University of Maryland, Baltimore alumni
Jewish United States senators
Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives
Burials at Rock Creek Cemetery
Democratic Party United States senators from Maryland
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland
20th-century United States senators
19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives
19th-century members of the Maryland General Assembly