James SHEAKLEY, Congress, PA (1829-1917)

SHEAKLEY, James, a Representative from Pennsylvania; born in Sheakleyville, Mercer County, Pa., April 24, 1829; attended the common schools and Meadville (Pa.) Academy; learned the trade of cabinetmaker; moved to California in 1851 and engaged in the mining of gold; returned to Pennsylvania and settled in Greenville in 1855; engaged in mercantile pursuits and in 1864 in the production and shipment of petroleum; school director of Greenville, Pa., 1864-1868; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1875-March 3, 1877); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1876 to the Forty-fifth Congress; appointed United States commissioner of schools of Alaska by President Cleveland in July 1887 and served five years; studied law and was admitted to the bar in the United States District Court of Alaska in 1888; delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1892; Governor of Alaska 1893-1897; again returned to Greenville, Pa., in 1898; mayor of Greenville 1909-1913; elected justice of the peace in 1914 and served until his death in Greenville, Pa., on December 10, 1917; interment in Shenango Valley Cemetery.

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