John L. Dawson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania
In office
March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1867
Preceded byJames K. Moorhead
Succeeded byJohn Covode
Constituency21st district
In office
March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1855
Preceded byAndrew J. Ogle
Succeeded byJonathan Knight
Constituency18th district (1851–1853)
20th district (1853–1855)
Personal details
Born(1813-02-07)February 7, 1813
Uniontown, Pennsylvania, US
DiedSeptember 18, 1870(1870-09-18) (aged 57)
Springfield Township, Pennsylvania, US
Political partyDemocratic

John Littleton Dawson (February 7, 1813 – September 18, 1870) was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

Early life and education

Dawson was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Washington College with a degree in law, was granted admission to the bar in 1835, and ran a small law practice. He served as deputy attorney general for Fayette County, Pennsylvania, in 1838, and as district attorney for the western district of Pennsylvania from 1845 until 1848.

Political career

In 1848 he unsuccessfully ran for congress as a Democrat, but on subsequent attempts he was elected and served in the 32nd and 33rd congresses, from March 4, 1851, until March 3, 1855, when he stepped down, declining the nomination for the next term. While serving as a congressman he was the chairman of the Committee on Agriculture.

During his time away from congress, President Franklin Pierce offered him the governorship of Kansas Territory, but he declined so that he could run for congress again, which he was elected to again in 1863, and served on the 38th and 39th congresses from March 4, 1863, until March 3, 1867. His vote on the Thirteenth Amendment is recorded as nay.

He was a delegate to Democratic National Convention from Pennsylvania, 1844, 1848, 1860, 1868.

He retired to his home in Springfield Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, where he died at age 57. He was interred at Christ Episcopal Churchyard in Brownsville.

In 1860 he was honored as the namesake of Dawson County, Nebraska, in what was then Nebraska Territory.

Sources

U.S. House of Representatives Preceded byAndrew Jackson Ogle Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district 1851–1853 Succeeded byJohn McCulloch Preceded byJohn Allison Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 20th congressional district 1853–1855 Succeeded byJonathan Knight Preceded byJames K. Moorhead Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 21st congressional district 1863–1867 Succeeded byJohn Covode
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