John RAINES, Congress, NY (1840-1909)

RAINES, John, a Representative from New York; born in Canandaigua, Ontario County, N.Y., May 6, 1840; attended the public schools; taught school; graduated from the Albany (N.Y.) Law School in 1861; was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Geneva, N.Y.; during the Civil War organized and was captain of Company G, Eighty-fifth Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, in 1861 and served in the Armies of the Potomac and North Carolina until July 1863; member of the New York state assembly, 1881-1883, and in 1885; member of the New York state senate, 1886-1889; president of the board of education of Canandaigua, 1887-1909; delegate to the Republican National Convention, 1888; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-first and Fifty-second Congresses (March 4, 1889-March 3, 1893); was not a candidate for renomination in 1892; elected to the New York state senate in 1894 to fill an unexpired term; reelected and served continuously until his death; was president of the New York state senate after 1904; acting lieutenant governor of New York, 1906; died in Canandaigua, N.Y., December 16, 1909; interment in Woodlawn Cemetery.

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