Archibald Meserole BLISS, Congress, NY (1838-1923)

BLISS, Archibald Meserole, a Representative from New York; born in Brooklyn, N.Y., January 25, 1838; attended the common schools; alderman of Brooklyn, N.Y., 1864-1867, serving as president of the board of aldermen in 1866; unsuccessful Republican candidate for mayor of Brooklyn in 1867; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1864 and 1868, to the Liberal National Convention in 1872, and to the Democratic National Conventions in 1876, 1880, 1884, and 1888; member of the board of water commissioners of Brooklyn in 1871 and 1872; president and vice president of the Bushwick Railroad Co., 1868-1878; director of the New York & Long Island Bridge Co.; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fourth and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1875-March 3, 1883); was not a candidate for renomination in 1882 to the Forty-eighth Congress; elected to the Forty-ninth and Fiftieth Congresses (March 4, 1885-March 3, 1889); chairman, Committee on Pensions (Fiftieth Congress); was not a candidate for renomination in 1888 to the Fifty-first Congress; engaged in the real estate business in Washington, D.C., until his death there on March 19, 1923; interment in Cypress Hills Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present