John Dalzell

John Dalzell (April 19 1845 – October 2 1927) was a U.S. Representative from the state of Pennsylvania.

John Dalzell was born in New York City. He moved with his parents to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1847.

He attended the common schools and the Western University of Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. He graduated from Yale College with the class of 1865. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1867 and commenced practice in Pittsburgh.

Dalzell was elected as a Republican to the Fiftieth and to the twelve succeeding Congresses. He served as chairman of the United States House Committee on Pacific Railroads during the Fifty-first Congress, and the United States House Committee on Rules during the Sixty-first Congress.

He ran for the US Senate in 1899 and 1901 but was defeated both times by Matthew S. Quay.

In 1902 he lost his bid for the Speakership of the House of Representatives to Joseph G Cannon. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1912. He was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1904 and 1908, and served as a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution from 1906 to 1913.

According to obituary newspaper clippings reproduced on page 27 of vol 2 of Kitzmiller's "The Family Encyclopedia":

"For 18 years he was a member of the all-powerful committee on Rules and Ways and Means."

and because of his postition on the Rules, Ways and Means Committee:

"For his service in Congress, Dalzell for years was known as the 'Father of the House of Representatives'". Personal Life

He married Mary Louise Duff, Sept 26, 1867. She was the daughter of Peter Duff (Feb. 16, 1802 to Sept 13, 1869), the founder of Duff's Business Institute in Pittsburg, (now Everest Institute).

John and Mary Dalzell had five children: William Sage Dalzell (Aug 17, 1868 - Sept 27, 1924), Elizabeth Marter Dalzell (Mar 4, 1870 - 1961), Samuel Dalzell (April 22. 1873 - 1958), John Dalzell Jr (Aug 1, 1875 - May 6, 1877) and Robert Duff Dalzell (Aug 27, 1882 - Nov 30, 1967).Elizabeth Marter Dalzell married Col. George M. Dunn, [http://www.bartleby.com/51/a1.html one of Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders] .

During John Dalzell's political career, his wife Mary Louise was a prominent hostess active in the Washington political scene. Although women did not have the vote at that time, still she was politically influential. To briefly quote a passage describing this from vol 2, p 25 of Kitzmiller's "The Family Encyclopedia":

"... his friends persuaded him, somewhat against his will, to go to Congress. In this project they were aided and abetted by his wife .... (who) was exceptionally well-fitted to be the helpmate of a congressman. Relieving her husband of many of the burdens which constituents place upon the representative, she also unobtrusively engineered campaign contracts, quietly supervising that meticulous reelection detail which is the bane of a congressman's existence.... The death of Mrs Dalzell in 1909 broke the mainspring of his political existence." He retired in Washington, D.C., following the death of his wife in 1909. In 1925 he moved to live in the home of his youngest son, Samuel Dalzell, in Altadena, California. He died in California at the age of 82. . He is buried in Pittsburgh's Allegheny Cemetery.

=Sources=

*CongBio|P000136|Charles E. Patton
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/dalzell-damrow.html The Political Graveyard]

* [http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/fhlcatalog/mainframeset.asp?display=subjectdetails&columns=undefined&subject=222496&subject_disp=Downing R. B. Kitzmiller(Robert Blythe,b 1913), The Family Encyclopedia Volume 2, 1982, Private Printing. pp. 22 to 29.]

* [http://www.bartleby.com/51/a1.html Bartleby.com Great Books On Line Nonfiction > Theodore Roosevelt > The Rough Riders > APPENDIX A: MUSTER-OUTROLL]