Robert Edward DIFENDERFER, Congress, PA (1849-1923)

DIFENDERFER, Robert Edward, a Representative from Pennsylvania; born in Lewisburg, Union County, Pa., June 7, 1849; attended the common schools; studied dentistry and practiced this profession for fourteen years in Lewisburg and Pottsville, Pa.; built and operated the first woolen mill at Tientsin, China; returned to the United States in August 1900; engaged in the wholesale lumber business and as a contractor at Jenkintown; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-second and Sixty-third Congresses (March 4, 1911-March 3, 1915); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1914, 1916, and 1918; engaged in the retail confectionery business at Jenkintown; died in Philadelphia, Pa., April 25, 1923; interment in Westminster Cemetery.

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