Joseph Augustine SCRANTON, Congress, PA (1838-1908)

SCRANTON, Joseph Augustine, (second cousin of George Whitfield Scranton), a Representative from Pennsylvania; born in Madison, New Haven County, Conn., July 26, 1838; moved with his parents to Pennsylvania in 1847; attended Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass.; attended Yale College 1857-1861; collector of internal revenue 1862-1866; founded the Scranton Daily Republican in 1867; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1872; postmaster of Scranton from March 19, 1874, to May 5, 1881; elected as a Republican to the Forty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1881-March 3, 1883); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1882 to the Forty-eighth Congress; elected to the Forty-ninth Congress (March 4, 1885-March 3, 1887); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1886 to the Fiftieth Congress; elected to the Fifty-first Congress (March 4, 1889-March 3, 1891); chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Department of State (Fifty-first Congress); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1890 to the Fifty-second Congress; resumed the newspaper business in Scranton; elected to the Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth Congresses (March 4, 1893-March 3, 1897); chairman, Committee on Territories (Fifty-fourth Congress); was not a candidate for renomination in 1896; resumed the publication and editorship of the Scranton Republican; treasurer of Lackawanna County 1901-1903; died in Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pa., October 12, 1908; interment in Dunmore Cemetery.

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