Joseph HIESTER, Congress, PA (1752-1832)

HIESTER, Joseph, (cousin of John Hiester and Daniel Hiester [1747-1804] and grandfather of Henry Augustus Muhlenberg), a Representative from Pennsylvania; born in Berne Township, Berks County, Pa., November 18, 1752; attended the common schools; engaged in mercantile pursuits; served in the Revolutionary Army as captain and colonel; member of the State conference in 1776 which assumed the government of the colony; member of the State constitutional convention which ratified the Federal Constitution December 12, 1787, and of the State constitutional convention of 1790; member of the State house of representatives 1787-1790; served in the State senate 1790-1794; elected as a Republican to the Fifth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of George Ege; reelected to the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Congresses and served from December 1, 1797, to March 3, 1805; major general of Pennsylvania Militia in 1807; elected to the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth Congresses and served from March 4, 1815, until his resignation in December 1820, having been elected chief executive of the State; Governor of Pennsylvania 1820-1824; died in Reading, Pa., June 10, 1832; interment in the burying ground of the Reformed Church; reinterment in Charles Evans Cemetery.

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