John CHAMBERS, Congress, KY (1780-1852)

CHAMBERS, John, a Representative from Kentucky; born at Bromley Bridge, Somerset County, N.J., October 6, 1780; attended the public schools and the Transylvania Seminary, Lexington, Ky.; moved with his father to Washington, Mason County, Ky., in 1794; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1800 and commenced practice in Washington, Ky.; served as aide-de-camp to General Harrison in the War of 1812 and was at the Battle of the Thames; member of the State house of representatives in 1812, 1815, 1830, and 1831; appointed judge of the court of appeals in 1825; resigned in 1827; elected as an Adams candidate to the Twentieth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Thomas Metcalfe and served from December 1, 1828, to March 3, 1829; elected as an Anti- Jacksonian to the Twenty-fourth Congress, and reelected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1835-March 3, 1839); chairman, Committee on Claims (Twenty-fifth Congress); Governor of the Territory of Iowa 1841-1845; commissioner to negotiate a treaty with the Sioux Indians in 1849; died near Paris, Bourbon County, Ky., September 21, 1852; interment in the family burial ground at Washington, Mason County, Ky.

Bibliography

Chambers, John. Autobiography of John Chambers. Edited by John Carl Parish. Iowa City, Iowa: The State Historical Society of Iowa, 1908.

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