Robert Elliott DE FOREST, Congress, CT (1845-1924)

DE FOREST, Robert Elliott, a Representative from Connecticut; born in Guilford, New Haven County, Conn., February 20, 1845; attended the common schools; was graduated from Guilford Academy in 1863 and from Yale College in 1867; moved to Royalton, Vt., in 1867 and became an instructor in the Royalton Academy; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1870 and commenced practice in Bridgeport, Conn.; prosecuting attorney for Bridgeport in 1872; judge of the court of common pleas for Fairfield County in 1874-1877; mayor of Bridgeport in 1878; member of the State house of representatives in 1880; served in the State senate in 1882; corporation counsel for Bridgeport; again elected mayor in 1889 and 1890; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses (March 4, 1891-March 3, 1895); chairman, Committee on Reform in the Civil Service (Fifty-third Congress); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1894 to the Fifty-fourth Congress; served two terms as judge of the common pleas court; resumed the practice of law in Bridgeport, Conn., where he died October 1, 1924; interment in Mountain Grove Cemetery.

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