Jeremiah (Jerry) SIMPSON, Congress, KS (1842-1905)

1842-1905

SIMPSON, Jeremiah (Jerry), a Representative from Kansas; born on Prince Edward Island, Canada, March 31, 1842; moved with his parents to Oneida County, N.Y., in 1848; attended the public schools; at the age of fourteen became a sailor and followed nautical pursuits from 1856 to 1879; served in the Civil War in Company A, Twelfth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry; moved to Barber County, Kans., in 1878 and settled near Medicine Lodge; engaged in farming and stock raising; on two occasions was an unsuccessful candidate for election on the Independent ticket to the Kansas house of representatives from Barber County; elected as a Populist to the Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses (March 4, 1891-March 3, 1895); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1894 to the Fifty-fourth Congress; elected to the Fifty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1897-March 3, 1899); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1898 to the Fifty-sixth Congress; resumed his former pursuits; died in Wichita, Kans., October 23, 1905; interment in Maple Grove Cemetery.

Bibliography

Bicha, Karel Denis. “Jerry Simpson: Populist Without Principle.” Journal of American History 54 (September 1967): 291-306.

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