John RUGGLES, Congress, ME (1789-1874)

RUGGLES, John, a Senator from Maine; born in Westboro, Mass., October 8, 1789; attended the common schools; graduated from Brown University, Providence, R.I., in 1813; studied law; admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Skowhegan, Maine, in 1815; moved to Thomaston, Maine, in 1817; member, State house of representatives 1823-1831, and served as speaker 1825-1829, 1831; justice of the supreme judicial court of Maine 1831-1834; elected as a Jacksonian (later Democrat) to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Peleg Sprague, and at the same time was elected for the full term beginning March 4, 1835, and served from January 20, 1835, to March 3, 1841; was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1840; chairman, Committee on Patents and Patent Office (Twenty-fifth Congress); framer of the bill for the reorganization of the United States Patent Office in 1836; resumed the practice of law in Thomaston, Knox County, Maine; also engaged as an inventor, orator, and writer; died in Thomaston, Maine, on June 20, 1874; interment in Elm Grove Cemetery.

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