Edward KAVANAGH, Congress, ME (1795-1844)

KAVANAGH, Edward, a Representative from Maine; born in Newcastle, Lincoln County, Maine, April 27, 1795; attended Montreal Seminary, Montreal, Canada, and Georgetown College, Georgetown, D.C.; was graduated from St. Mary’s College, Baltimore, Md., in 1813; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Damariscotta, Maine; member of the State house of representatives 1826-1828; secretary of the State senate in 1830; elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-second and Twenty-third Congresses (March 4, 1831-March 3, 1835); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1834 to the Twenty-fourth Congress; appointed Chargé d’Affaires to Portugal on March 3, 1835, and served until his resignation in June 1841; one of the joint commission on the northeastern boundary in 1842; member of the State senate in 1842 and 1843 and served as president of that body; became Governor of Maine upon the resignation of Governor Fairfield on March 7, 1843, and served until the end of the term in 1844; died in Newcastle, Maine, January 22, 1844; interment in St. Patrick’s Catholic Cemetery, Damariscotta Mills, Maine.

Bibliography

Lucey, William Leo. Edward Kavanagh, Catholic, Statesman, Diplomat, from Maine, 1795-1844. Francestown, N.H.: Marshall Jones, 1947.

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