William Lewis DEWART, Congress, PA (1821-1888)

DEWART, William Lewis, (son of Lewis Dewart), a Representative from Pennsylvania; born in Sunbury, Northumberland County, Pa., June 21, 1821; attended the common schools of Sunbury and Harrisburg, Pa.; was graduated from Dickinson Preparatory School, Carlisle, Pa., and from Princeton College in 1839; studied law; was admitted to the Northumberland County bar on January 3, 1843, and commenced practice in Sunbury, Pa.; chief burgess of Sunbury in 1845 and 1846; president of the school board; delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1852, 1856, 1860, and 1884; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1854 to the Thirty-fourth Congress; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1857-March 3, 1859); chairman, Committee on Revisal and Unfinished Business (Thirty-fifth Congress); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1858 to the Thirty-sixth Congress; resumed the practice of his profession in Sunbury, Pa.; died in Sunbury, Pa., on April 19, 1888; interment in the family vault in Sunbury Cemetery.

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