Longyear, J. W. (John Wesley), 1820-1875
Variant namesBiographical notes:
Republican congressman and U.S. district judge from Lansing, Michigan.
From the description of John Wesley Longyear papers, 1846-1875. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 154302138
From the description of John Wesley Longyear papers, 1846-1875. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34422516
John Wesley Longyear, lawyer, U.S. congressman, and judge, was born in 1820 in Shandaken, New York. After being educated at seminaries in Amenia and Lima, New York, Longyear taught school and studied law. In April 1844, he moved to Mason, Michigan in Ingham County where he continued to teach school and study law. He was admitted to the bar in 1846. When the state capitol was moved to nearby Lansing in 1847, Longyear moved there and formed a law partnership with his brother Ephraim Longyear. He was married in June 1849 to Harriet M. Munroe.
In 1862, Longyear was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's third district, composed of Calhoun, Eaton, Ingham, Jackson, and Washtenaw counties. He was reelected in 1864 and served on the Committee on Common Expenditures and as chairman of the controversial extension of U.S. land grants to the Amboy, Hillsdale, Lansing, and Traverse Bay Railroad. The ensuing controversy may have cost Longyear his seat in Congress.
Longyear was a delegate to the 1866 Loyalist Convention in Philadelphia, a convention called to influence public opinion against the Johnson Reconstruction policy. He also served as a member of the Michigan Constitutional convention in 1867.
In 1870, Longyear was appointed U.S. district court judge for the eastern district of Michigan. He moved to Detroit the following year and developed a national reputation for expertise in bankruptcy and admiralty law. He died suddenly in March 1875.
From the guide to the John Wesley Longyear Papers, 1837-1875, (Bentley Historical Library University of Michigan)
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- Business records
- Copper
- Copper mines and mining
- Copper mines and mining
- Dwellings
- Homestead law
- Homestead law
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- Upper Peninsula (Mich.) (as recorded)
- Muskegon (Mich.) (as recorded)
- Michigan--Lansing (as recorded)
- Manistee (Mich.) (as recorded)
- United States (as recorded)
- Lansing (Mich.) (as recorded)
- Michigan (as recorded)
- Lansing (Mich.) (as recorded)
- United States (as recorded)
- Newaygo County (Mich.) (as recorded)
- Muskegon (Mich.) (as recorded)
- Muskegon (Mich.) (as recorded)
- Michigan (as recorded)
- Newaygo County (Mich.) (as recorded)
- Newaygo County (Mich.) (as recorded)
- Manistee (Mich.) (as recorded)
- Upper Peninsula (Mich.) (as recorded)
- United States (as recorded)
- Michigan--Upper Peninsula (as recorded)
- Manistee (Mich.) (as recorded)
- Lansing (Mich.) (as recorded)
- Upper Peninsula (Mich.) (as recorded)
