Samuel Wheeler MOULTON, Congress, IL (1821-1905)

MOULTON, Samuel Wheeler, a Representative from Illinois; born in Wenham, Essex County, Mass., January 20, 1821; attended the public schools; moved to Kentucky, where he taught school for several years, thence to Mississippi where he continued to teach; moved to Illinois in 1845 and settled in Oakland, Coles County; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1847 and commenced practice in Sullivan, Ill.; moved to Shelbyville in 1849 and continued the practice of law; member of the State house of representatives 1852-1859; presidential elector on the Democratic ticket in 1856; president of the board of education of the State of Illinois 1859-1876; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1862 to the Thirty-eighth Congress; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-ninth Congress (March 4, 1865-March 3, 1867); elected as a Democrat to the Forty-seventh and Forty-eighth Congresses (March 4, 1881-March 3, 1885); chairman, Committee on Mileage (Forty-eighth Congress); was not a candidate for renomination in 1884; resumed the practice of law in Shelbyville; affiliated with the Republican Party after 1896; died in Shelbyville, Shelby County, Ill., June 3, 1905; interment in Glenwood Cemetery.

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