Orrin Dubbs Bleakley

Orrin Dubbs Bleakley
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 28th district
In office March 4, 1917 – April 3, 1917
Preceded by	Samuel H. Miller
Succeeded by	Earl H. Beshlin
Personal details
Born	May 5, 1854(1854-05-05) Franklin, Pennsylvania
Died	December 3, 1927(1927-12-03) (aged 73)
Political party	Republican

Orrin Dubbs Bleakley (May 5, 1854 – December 3, 1927) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

Bleakley was born in Franklin, Pennsylvania. He attended the University of Bonn, in Prussia. He was engaged in banking with his father until 1876. He became interested in the production of oil and worked in the industry from 1876 to 1883. He organized the Franklin Trust Company in 1883, and became its president. He was a delegate at large to the Republican National Convention in 1904, and served as chairman of the Venango County Republican committee.

Upon his election to Congress in November 1915, Bleakley became the first government official to fly from his home state to DC. The trip was made in a 75-horsepower Curtiss biplane from Philadelphia, piloted by Sergeant William C. Ocker, on leave from the United States Aviation Corps at the time. The trip took 3:15 hours, including an unscheduled stop in a wheatfield in Maryland.^[1]

Bleakley was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-fifth Congress and served from 4 March to 3 April 1917, when he resigned without having qualified. His resignation came after he was convicted and fined under the Federal Corrupt Practices Act of 1910. Bleakley's offense—he had spent more than the allotted $5,000 on his campaign. He resumed banking in Franklin, and died in Robinson, Illinois. Interment in Franklin Cemetery in Franklin, Pennsylvania.

Sources

• Orrin D. Bleakley at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• The Political Graveyard
• Venango County Historical Society. Venango County 2000: The Changing Scene. VCHS, Franklin. 2000.

References

1. ^ Venango County Historical Society. Venango County 2000: The Changing Scene. VCHS, Franklin. 2000. p.127-128.

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Samuel H. Miller	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 28th congressional district 1917	Succeeded by Earl H. Beshlin

Persondata
Name	Bleakley, Orrin
Alternative names
Short description	American politician
Date of birth	5 May 1854
Place of birth
Date of death	3 December 1927
Place of death