Francis Byron DE WITT, Congress, OH (1849-1929)

DE WITT, Francis Byron, a Representative from Ohio; born in Jackson County, Ind., March 11, 1849; moved with his parents in 1854 to a farm in Delaware County, Ohio; during the Civil War enlisted in the Forty-sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, at the age of twelve; mustered out for temporary disability and reenlisted in 1862 in the One Hundred and Twenty-first Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war; prisoner of war in Salisbury, Danville, and Libby Prisons; attended the common schools and high school in Galena, Ohio, National Normal School, Lebanon, Ohio, and Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio; moved to Paulding, Ohio, in 1872 and taught school; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1875 and practiced his profession in Paulding until 1891, when he engaged in agricultural pursuits; member of the State house of representatives 1892-1895; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1895-March 3, 1897); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1896; resumed agricultural pursuits near Paulding, Ohio; moved to Standish, Arenac County, Mich., in 1903 and resumed the practice of law; served as register of deeds; member of the Michigan house of representatives 1920-1922; elected prosecuting attorney of Arenac County, Mich., in 1926; reelected in 1928 and served until his death in Standish, Mich., on March 21, 1929; interment in Live Oak Cemetery, Paulding, Ohio.

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