Joseph McKENNA, Congress, CA (1843-1926)

McKENNA, Joseph, a Representative from California; born in Philadelphia, Pa., August 10, 1843; moved with his parents to Benicia, Calif., in January 1855; attended the public schools and was graduated from the law department of Benicia Collegiate Institute in 1865; was admitted to the bar in 1865 and commenced practice in Benicia, Calif.; moved to Fairfield, Solano County, in 1866 and continued the practice of law for eight years; district attorney of Solano County 1866-1868; member of the State house of representatives in 1875 and 1876; unsuccessful Republican candidate in 1876 for election to the Forty-fifth Congress and in 1878 to the Forty-sixth Congress; elected as a Republican to the Forty-ninth and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1885, to March 28, 1892, when he resigned; appointed by President Harrison as United States circuit judge for the ninth judicial circuit February 11, 1892, and was confirmed March 17, 1892; served five years and resigned; appointed Attorney General of the United States in the Cabinet of President McKinley and served from March 7, 1897, to January 25, 1898, when he resigned, having been appointed by President McKinley as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court January 26, 1898, to succeed Justice Stephen J. Field, and served from January 26, 1898, to January 25, 1925, when he resigned; died in Washington, D.C., November 21, 1926; interment in Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Bibliography

McDevitt, Matthew, Brother. Joseph McKenna: Associate Justice of the United States. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1946. Reprint, New York: Da Capo Press, 1974.

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