PENNINGTON, William

PENNINGTON, William
Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives
About this object
1796–1862

Biography

PENNINGTON, William, (cousin of Alexander Cumming McWhorter Pennington), a Representative from New Jersey; born in Newark, N.J., May 4, 1796; completed preparatory studies; was graduated from Princeton College in 1813; clerk of the United States district court 1815-1826; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Newark in 1820; member of the State general assembly in 1828; served as sergeant at law in 1834; Governor of New Jersey from 1837 to 1843; appointed Governor of Minnesota Territory by President Fillmore but declined to accept; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1859-March 3, 1861); Speaker of the House of Representatives (Thirty-sixth Congress); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1860 to the Thirty-seventh Congress; died in Newark, N.J., February 16, 1862; interment in Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress

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External Research Collections

Boston Public Library

Boston, MA
Papers: 1 letter.

Columbia University
Rare Book and Manuscript Library

New York, NY
Papers: 2 letters (1847-1850) in the Kent family collection. Finding aid in repository.

New Jersey Historical Society

Newark, NJ
Papers: 1822-1862. 232 items. Letters and legal papers, chiefly relating to duties as a bank trustee.

Rutgers University
Alexander Library Department of Special Collections and Archives

New Brunswick, NJ
Papers: 1814-1860. 4 items.
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Bibliography / Further Reading

King, James G., William Pennington, and Charles Parker. An investigation into the affairs of the Delaware & Raritan canal and Camden & Amboy rail road companies, in reference to certain charges by "a citizen of Burlington," December, 1848. Newark, N.J.: Printed at the Daily Advertiser office, 1849.

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