Ezra Bartlett FRENCH, Congress, ME (1810-1880)

FRENCH Ezra Bartlett , a Representative from Maine; born in Landaff, Grafton County, N.H., September 23, 1810; attended the common schools and pursued an academic course; studied law in Bath, N.H., and Plymouth, N.H.; was admitted to the bar in 1833 and commenced practice in Portland and Waldoboro, Maine; moved to Noblesboro (later Damariscotta), Maine, and continued practice; member of the State house of representatives 1838-1840; served in the State senate 1842-1845; secretary of state of Maine 1845-1850; bank commissioner; newspaper editor in 1856; assisted in organizing the Republican Party in 1856; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1859-March 3, 1861); was not a candidate for renomination in 1860; member of the peace convention of 1861 held in Washington, D.C., in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending war; appointed Second Auditor of the Treasury August 3, 1861, by President Lincoln, and continued during the administrations of Presidents Johnson, Grant, and Hayes, serving until his death in Washington, D.C., April 24, 1880; interment in Hillside Cemetery, Damariscotta, Maine.

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