William SIMONTON, Congress, PA (1788-1846)

SIMONTON, William, a Representative from Pennsylvania; born in West Hanover Township, near Harrisburg, Pa., February 12, 1788; received his early education from his mother and later attended a private school; was graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia in 1810 and practiced his profession while residing on his farm near Hummelstown, Dauphin County, Pa.; elected auditor of Dauphin County in 1823 and served three years; one of the original supporters of the free-school system established by the act of 1834; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Congresses (March 4, 1839-March 3, 1843); died in South Hanover, Pa., May 17, 1846; interment in the Old Hanover Cemetery, north of Shellsville, Pa.

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