- John W. Crisfield
John Woodland Crisfield (
November 8 ,1806 —January 12 ,1897 ) was a U.S. Congressman fromMaryland , representing the sixth district from 1847—1849 and the first district from 1861—1863. The town ofCrisfield, Maryland , is named after him.Born near
Galena, Maryland ,inKent County on theEastern Shore of Maryland , Crisfield was educated atWashington College inChestertown, Maryland . He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1830, commencing practice inPrincess Anne, Maryland .Crisfield entered the
Maryland House of Delegates in 1836, and was later elected as a Whig to the Thirtieth Congress, serving the 6th Congressional district of Maryland fromMarch 4 ,1847 untilMarch 3 ,1849 . He was a delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1850, and a member of thepeace conference of 1861 held inWashington, D.C. , in an effort to devise means to prevent the impendingAmerican Civil War .In 1861, Crisfield was elected as a Unionist to the Thirty-seventh Congress from the 1st Congressional district of Maryland, serving one term from March 4, 1861 until March 3, 1863. He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1862, and resumed the practice of law. He served as a delegate to the
National Union Convention inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania in 1866.The town of
Crisfield, Maryland was located and founded by Crisfield in 1866, and he was instrumental in building the Eastern Shore Railroad and served as president. He died in Princess Anne in 1897, and is interred in Manokin Presbyterian Cemetery.References
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