Joseph Hutton DEFREES, Congress, IN (1812-1885)

DEFREES, Joseph Hutton, a Representative from Indiana; born in Sparta, White County, Tenn., May 13, 1812; moved to Ohio with his parents, who settled in Piqua in 1819; attended the common schools; apprenticed to the blacksmith trade 1826-1829; learned the art of printing; moved to Indiana and settled in South Bend in 1831, where he established the Northwestern Pioneer; moved to Goshen, Elkhart County, Ind., in 1833 and engaged in mercantile pursuits and later in banking; appointed county agent; sheriff of Elkhart County 1835-1840; member of the State house of representatives in 1849 and again in 1872; served in the State senate 1850-1854; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-ninth Congress (March 4, 1865-March 3, 1867); was not a candidate for renomination in 1866; resumed his former business pursuits; also interested in milling, the manufacture of linseed oil, and the construction of the Goshen Hydraulic Works; director of the Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan Railroad and served as its first president; died at Goshen, Ind., December 21, 1885; interment in Oak Ridge Cemetery.

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