John Charles McKENZIE, Congress, IL (1860-1941)

McKENZIE, John Charles, a Representative from Illinois; born on a farm near Elizabeth, Woodbine Township, Jo Daviess County, Ill., February 18, 1860; attended the common schools, and the normal school at Valparaiso, Ind.; taught school in Jo Daviess County for six years; engaged in the grain, flour, and feed business; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1890 and commenced the practice of his profession in Elizabeth, Ill.; director of the Elizabeth Exchange Bank; member of the State house of representatives 1892-1896; member of Illinois Claims Commission 1896-1900; served in the State senate from 1900 until his resignation on May 11, 1911, and was president pro tempore 1903-1905; elected as a Republican to the Sixty-second and to the six succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1911-March 3, 1925); chairman, Committee on Military Affairs (Sixty-eighth Congress); was not a candidate for renomination in 1924; appointed in 1925 a member of the commission to report the most practical method of utilizing the nitrate plant at Muscle Shoals, Ala.; resumed the practice of his profession in Elizabeth, Ill., until his death in that city on September 17, 1941; interment in Elizabeth Cemetery.

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