Jonathan ELMER, Congress, NJ (1745-1817)

ELMER, Jonathan, (brother of Ebenezer Elmer and uncle of Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus Elmer), a Delegate and a Senator from New Jersey; born in Cedarville, Cumberland County, N.J., November 29, 1745; completed preparatory studies; graduated from the first medical class of the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia in 1769 and practiced in Bridgeton, N.J.; high sheriff of Cumberland County 1772; chosen captain of a light infantry company 1775; Member of the Continental Congress 1777-1778, 1781-1783, and 1787-1788; member, State council 1780, 1784; trustee of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) 1782-1795; surrogate of Cumberland County 1784-1802; president of the State medical society 1787; elected to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1789, to March 3, 1791; appointed presiding judge of the county court of common pleas in 1802 and served until his resignation in 1804; appointed to the same office in the winter of 1813, but, in February 1814, declined to serve further because of impaired health; died in Bridgeton, N.J., September 3, 1817; interment in the Old Presbyterian Cemetery.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; Henry H. Sherk, “Two Doctors Elmer of Cumberland County: New Jersey’s First United States Senator and a Revolutionary War Hero.” New Jersey Medicine 99 (May 2002): 35-39.

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