EDWARDS, John, Congress, AR (1805-1894)

EDWARDS, John, a Representative from Arkansas; born in Louisville, Jefferson County, Ky., October 24, 1805; received a limited schooling; studied law and was admitted to the bar; moved to Indiana, where he served in the State house of representatives in 1845 and 1846; moved to California, and in 1849 was elected an alcalde; returned to Indiana in 1852; member of the State senate in 1853; moved to Chariton, Iowa, in 1855; member of the Iowa constitutional convention; served in the State house of representatives 1856-1860, the last two years as speaker of the house; founder in 1857 of the Patriot, a newspaper; appointed lieutenant colonel May 21, 1861, on the staff of the Governor of Iowa; colonel of the Eighteenth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, August 8, 1862; brigadier general of Volunteers September 26, 1864; at the close of the war settled in Fort Smith, Ark.; appointed by President Johnson as United States assessor of internal revenue and served from August 15, 1866, to May 31, 1869; presented credentials of election as a Liberal Republican to the Forty-second Congress and served from March 4, 1871, to February 9, 1872, when he was succeeded by Thomas Boles, who contested the election; was not a candidate for renomination; settled in Washington, D.C., and died there April 8, 1894; interment in Arlington National Cemetery.

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