Seth Merrill GATES, Congress, NY (1800-1877)

GATES, Seth Merrill, a Representative from New York; born in Winfield, Herkimer County, N.Y., October 10, 1800; moved with his parents to Sheldon, Genesee (now Wyoming) County, N.Y. in 1806; attended the common schools and Middleburg Academy, Wyoming, N.Y.; inspector of common schools and deputy sheriff of Le Roy about 1825; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1827 and commenced practice in Le Roy, N.Y.; supervisor of Le Roy in 1830; member of the State assembly in 1832; declined to be a candidate for reelection; edited the Le Roy Gazette in 1838; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Congresses (March 4, 1839-March 3, 1843); unsuccessful candidate for reelection; moved to Warsaw, Wyoming County, N.Y., in 1843 and continued the practice of law; also engaged in the lumber trade and as a hardware and dry-goods merchant; unsuccessful Free-Soil candidate for Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1848; secretary of the Wyoming County Insurance Co. 1851-1865; appointed postmaster at Warsaw on May 28, 1861, and served until July 9, 1870, when his successor was appointed; vice president of the Genesee County Pioneer Association in 1872; died in Warsaw, N.Y., August 24, 1877; interment in Warsaw Cemetery.

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