Nehemiah Day SPERRY, Congress, CT (1827-1911)

SPERRY, Nehemiah Day, a Representative from Connecticut; born in Woodbridge, New Haven County, Conn., July 10, 1827; attended the common schools and a private school in New Haven; engaged in agricultural pursuits and worked in a mill; taught school for several years; became a member of a building and contracting firm; member of the common council in 1853; alderman of the city in 1854; secretary of state of Connecticut in 1855 and 1856; delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1856, 1864, and 1888; member and secretary of the national and executive committees; chairman of the Republican State committee for a number of years; chairman of the recruiting committee of New Haven during the Civil War; appointed July 16, 1861, by President Lincoln as postmaster of New Haven; reappointed and served until removed by President Cleveland January 20, 1886; again postmaster at New Haven and served from January 9, 1890, until March 15, 1894; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-fourth and to the seven succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1895-March 3, 1911); chairman, Committee on Alcohol Liquor Traffic (Fifty-sixth through Sixty-first Congresses); was not a candidate for renomination in 1910; died in New Haven, Conn., on November 13, 1911; interment in Evergreen Cemetery.

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