John Robert FRENCH, Congress, NC (1819-1890)

FRENCH John Robert , a Representative from North Carolina; born in Gilmanton, Belknap County, N.H., May 28, 1819; received an academic education in Gilmanton and Concord, N.H.; learned the printer's trade; publisher and associate editor of the New Hampshire Statesman at Concord for five years; editor of the Eastern Journal at Biddeford, Maine, two years; moved to Lake County, Ohio, in 1854; editor of the Telegraph, the Press, and, in 1856, of the Cleveland Morning Leader; member of the State house of representatives in 1858 and 1859; appointed by Secretary Chase to a position in the Treasury Department, Washington, D.C., in 1861; appointed by President Lincoln in 1864 a member of the board of direct-tax commissioners for the State of North Carolina; settled in Edenton, N.C., at the close of the Civil War; delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1867; upon the readmission of the State of North Carolina to representation was elected as a Republican to the Fortieth Congress and served from July 6, 1868, to March 3, 1869; was not a candidate for renomination in 1868; elected Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate March 22, 1869, and served in that capacity until March 24, 1879; appointed secretary of the Ute Commission in July 1880; returned to Washington, D.C.; moved to Omaha, Nebr., and thence to Boise City, Idaho, where he was editor of the Boise City Sun until his death October 2, 1890; interment in Boise City Cemetery.

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