Thomas McKean Thompson McKENNAN, Congress, PA (1794-1852)

McKENNAN, Thomas McKean Thompson, a Representative from Pennsylvania; born in New Castle, New Castle County, Del., March 31, 1794; moved to Washington, Pa.; attended the public schools; was graduated from Washington (now Washington and Jefferson) College, Washington, Pa., in 1810; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1814 and commenced practice in Washington, Pa.; deputy attorney general in 1815 and 1816; elected as an Anti-Masonic candidate to the Twenty-second and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1831-March 3, 1839); elected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Joseph Lawrence and served from May 30, 1842, to March 3, 1843; chairman, Committee on Roads and Canals (Twenty-seventh Congress); president of the Pennsylvania Electoral College in 1848; appointed Secretary of the Interior in the Cabinet of President Fillmore and served from August 15 to September 12, 1850; resigned and became president of the Hempfield Railroad, now the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad; died in Reading, Pa., July 9, 1852; interment in the Washington Cemetery, Washington, Pa.

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