Joseph F. GUFFEY, Congress, PA (1870-1959)

GUFFEY, Joseph F., a Senator from Pennsylvania; born at Guffey’s Station, Westmoreland County, Pa., December 29, 1870; attended the public schools in Greensburg, Pa., Princeton Preparatory School in Princeton, N.J., and Princeton University; employed in the United States Postal Service at Pittsburgh, Pa., 1894-1899; secretary of a public utilities company 1899-1901 and general manager 1901-1918; also financially interested in the production of coal and oil; during the First World War served as a member of the War Industries Board, Petroleum Service Division, and as a director in the Bureau of Sales in the Alien Property Custodian’s Office; member of the Democratic National Committee 1920-1932; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1934; reelected in 1940 and served from January 3, 1935, to January 3, 1947; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1946; chairman, Committee on Mines and Mining (Seventy-sixth through Seventy-ninth Congresses); retired and resided in Washington, D.C., until his death there on March 6, 1959; interment in West Newton Cemetery, West Newton, Westmoreland County, Pa.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Guffey, Joseph. Seventy Years on the Red-Fire Wagon: From Tilden to Truman, Through New Freedom and New Deal. n.p., 1952; Halt, Charles. “Joseph F. Guffey, New Deal Politician From Pennsylvania.” Ph.D. dissertation, Syracuse University, 1965.

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