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-- Biographies --

Biographies of Representatives of Indiana

Source: Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1949

Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1949
Biographies
B
page 839

BENHAM, John Samuel, a Representative from Indiana; born on a farm near Benham, Ripley County, Ind., October 24, 1863; attended the public schools, a business college in Delaware, Ohio, and a normal school in Brookville, Ind.; taught school in the winter and attended college in the summer, being engaged as a teacher in various places in Indiana from 1882 to 1907; was graduated from Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute, Ind., in 1893 and from Indiana University at Bloomington, Ind., in 1903; specialized in history at the University of Chicago for several terms; superintendent of schools for Ripley County for fourteen years; returned to Benham, Ind., in 1907 and engaged in [p.839] the timber, milling, and contracting business; also followed agricultural pursuits; served as chairman of the Republican county committee in 1916; delegate to the Republican National Convention at Chicago in 1916 that nominated Hughes and Fairbanks; elected as a Republican to the Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh Congresses (March 4, 1919-March 3, 1923); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1922 to the Sixty-eighth Congress; moved to Batesville, Ripley County, Ind., in 1923 and engaged as a building contractor; again superintendent of schools for Ripley County, Ind., 1924-1929; retired from active business pursuits in 1931 and resided in Batesville, Ind., until his death there on December 11, 1935; interment in Benham Church Cemetery, near Benham, Ind.


Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1949
Biographies
C
page 945

CANFIELD, Harry Clifford, a Representative from Indiana; born near Moores Hill, Dearborn County, Ind., November 22, 1875; attended the public schools, Moores Hill College, Central Normal College, Danville, Ind., and Vorhies Business College, Indianapolis, Ind.; taught school in Dearborn County 1896-1898; moved to Bootesville, Ripley County, in 1899 and engaged in the manufacture of furniture; also interested in the jobbing of furniture, and in farming and banking; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-eighth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1923-March 3, 1933); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1932; resumed the furniture manufacturing business in Batesville, Ind.; died in Batesville, Ind., February 9, 1945; interment in the First Methodist Episcopal Cemetery.


Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1949
Biographies
C
page 1031

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CRAVENS, James Harrison (second cousin of James Addison Cravens), a Representative from Indiana; born in Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, Va., August 2, 1802; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1823 and commenced practice in Harrisonburg, Va.; moved to Franklin, Pa., in 1823 and resumed the practice of law; moved to Madison, Ind., in 1829 and engaged in agricultural pursuits; member of the State house of representatives in 1831 and 1832; moved to Ripley County, Ind., in 1833, where he practiced law and managed a farm; member of the State senate in 1839; presidential elector on the Whig ticket of Harrison and Tyler in 1840; elected to the Twenty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1841-March 3, 1843); unsuccessful candidate of the Free-Soil Party for Governor of Indiana in 1852, member of the State house of representatives in 1856; unsuccessful candidate for election to the attorney generalship of the State in 1856; lieutenant colonel of the Eighty-third Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in the Civil War; during Morgan's raid in Indiana he and his soldiers were taken captive; died in Osgood, Ripley County, Ind., December 4, 1876; interment in Versailles Cemetery, Versailles, Ind.


Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1949
Biographies
H
page 1351

HUNTER, Morton Craig, a Representative from Indiana; born in Versailles, Ripley County, Ind., on February 5, 1825; completed a preparatory course; was graduated from the law department of Indiana University at Bloomington in 1849; was admitted to the bar and practiced; member of the State house of representatives in 1858; presidential elector on the Republican ticket of Lincoln and Hamlin in 1860; during the Civil War enlisted in the Union Army August 27, 1862; commanded the First Brigade, Third Division, Fourteenth Army Corps; was with Sherman in his march to the sea; brevetted brigadier general of Volunteers; honorably discharged June 24, 1865; elected as a Republican to the Fortieth Congress (March 4, 1867-March 3, 1869); elected to the Forty-third, Forty-fourth, and Forty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1873-March 3, 1879); operated a quarry in the Indiana limestone district; died in Bloomington, Ind., October 25, 1896; interment in Rose Hill Cemetery.

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