Theodore Medad Pomeroy (1824 - 1905)

Born 31 Dec 1824 in Cayuga, Cayuga County, New York

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth Leitch (Watson) Pomeroy — married 4 Sep 1855 in Auburn, Cayuga, New York, United States

Descendants

Died 23 Mar 1905 at age 80 in Auburn, Cayuga County, New York

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Preceded by 25th Speaker Schuyler Colfax

Theodore Medad Pomeroy 26th Speaker of the US House of Representatives March 3, 1869—March 4, 1869

Succeeded by 27th Speaker James Gillespie Blaine

Biography

Election 1862 member of the House of Representatives for the Congressional District - Auburn, Cayuga County, New York

Theodore Medad Pomeroy (December 31, 1824 – March 23, 1905) was an American businessman and politician from New York who served as the 26th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from March 3, 1869, to March 4, 1869, the shortest American speakership term in history. He represented New York's 24th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1861 to 1869. He also served as the mayor of Auburn, New York, from 1875 to 1876, and in the New York State Senate from 1878 to 1879.^[1]

http://www.americanpomeroys.org/hontheompomeroy His political career spanned over 30 years. Elected Auburn Clerk in 1847, and City Clerk in 1849 and 1850, he wrote the first free public education law adopted by the city. Later elected Cayuga County District Attorney; State Assembly; U.S. Congress; Auburn Mayor and State Senator.

Had a portrait ordered by Congress to be painted because he had been the Speaker of the House

Pomeroy retired from public life in 1879 and lived at 168 Genesee Street in Auburn, where he died in 1905. Harriet Tubman (1822–1913) was a close friend of the family who helped care for the Pomeroy children. She attended his funeral and it was reported that only her flowers and letter were placed on his casket and buried with him. He is buried at Fort Hill Cemetery - Auburn, Cayuga County, New York

Personal Life

He is the son of Medad Pomeroy and Lillian Maxwell, and he spent his childhood in Elbridge, New York, where he went to live when he was nine years old. On September 4, 1855, while serving his second term as District Attorney, he married Elizabeth Leitch Watson (1835–1892), the second daughter of Robert Watson, also of Auburn. Elizabeth's sister, Janet MacNeil Watson (1839–1913), married William H. Seward Jr. (1839–1920). Together, they had five children.

Pomeroy's grandchildren include New York State Senator Robert Watson Pomeroy (1902–1989), Janet Pomeroy Avery (1891–1969), who married John Foster Dulles (1888–1959), the U.S. Secretary of State during the Eisenhower Administration, and Josephine Herrick (1897–1972), photographer and teacher.

His great-grandchildren include John W. F. Dulles (1913–2008), a professor of history and specialist in Brazil at the University of Texas at Austin, Lillias Dulles Hinshaw (1914–1987), a Presbyterian minister, and Avery Dulles (1918–2008), who converted to Roman Catholicism, entered the Jesuit order, and became the first American theologian to be appointed a Cardinal.

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia

• AMERICAN POMEROY HISTORIC GENEALOGICAL ASSOCIATION Eltweed Tree
• Find A Grave: Memorial #7643841
• Theodore Pomeroy on Wikipedia
• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, Sir Theodore M Pomeroy, Auburn city Ward 9, Cayuga, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 18, sheet 5B, family 112, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,012.