Joseph A. Scranton

Joseph Augustine Scranton (July 26 1838 – October 12 1908) was a Republican politician who represented Pennsylvania in the United States House of Representatives from 1881 to 1883, 1885 to 1887, 1889 to 1891, and 1893 to 1897.

Scranton was born in Madison, Connecticut, moving to Pennsylvania with his family a boy and settling in Lackawanna County, where the Scranton community was named for his family. He attended the prestigious Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts and then received his higher education at Yale from 1857 to 1861.

After completion of his studies at Yale, Scranton was given the political patronage position of "collector of internal revenue" in 1862, which he retained until 1866. In 1867 he founded the "Scranton Daily Republican" newspaper. He served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1872. He was postmaster of the Scranton post office from March 19, 1874 to May 5, 1881.

In 1880 Scranton was elected to Congress for the first time, serving in the 47th Congress. However, he was defeated for a second term in 1882, but won one in 1884, being defeated for re-election in 1886. He then won a third term in 1888.

Scranton was again defeated for re-election in 1890 and resumed his newspaper career. However, he was subsequently elected to two consecutive terms for the only time in 1892 and 1894. In 1896 he chose not to run for a sixth term and reentered the newspaper business, serving the "Daily Republican" as both editor and publisher.

Scranton's final political office was that of treasurer of Lackawanna County from 1901 to 1903. He died in his beloved namesake city in 1908. He was second cousin to George W. Scranton, his grandson, William Scranton, served as Governor of Pennsylvania and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and his great-grandson, William Scranton, III, served as Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania.

References

*CongBio|S000192