Orsamus Benajah MATTESON, Congress, NY (1805-1889)
MATTESON, Orsamus Benajah, a Representative from New York; born in Verona, Oneida County, N.Y., August 28, 1805; attended the common schools; studied law in Utica, N.Y.; was admitted to the bar in 1830 and commenced practice in Utica; city attorney of Utica in 1834 and 1836; State supreme court commissioner; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1846 to the Thirtieth Congress; elected as a Whig to the Thirty-first Congress (March 4, 1849-March 3, 1851); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1850 to the Thirty-second Congress; elected as a Whig to the Thirty-third Congress and reelected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress and served from March 4, 1853, until his resignation on February 27, 1857; chairman, Committee on District of Columbia (Thirty-fourth Congress); elected as a Republican to the Thirty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1857-March 3, 1859); interested in a scheme for the construction of the St. Maryâs Ship Canal; engaged in lumbering and iron manufacturing and in the acquisition of large tracts of land; died in Utica, N.Y., December 22, 1889; interment in Forest Hill Cemetery.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
