John B. Penington

John Brown Penington (December 20, 1825 - June 1, 1902) was a United States Representative from Delaware. Born near New Castle, he pursued an academic course in New Castle and Newark and was graduated from Jefferson College (Canonsburg, Pennsylvania). He engaged in teaching in Indiana for several years and returned to Delaware; he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1857 and commenced practice in Dover. He was a member of the Delaware House of Representatives in 1857 and was clerk of the Delaware House of Representatives in 1859, 1863, and 1871.

Penington was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions at Charleston and Baltimore in 1860. In 1868, he was appointed United States Attorney for the district of Delaware by President Andrew Johnson and served until 1872. He was appointed Attorney General of Delaware by Governor Ponder in 1874 and served until 1878. Penington was elected as a Democrat to the Fiftieth and Fifty-first Congresses, serving from March 4, 1887 to March 4, 1891; he was not a candidate for renomination in 1890. He resumed the practice of law at Dover, where he died in 1902; interment was in the Presbyterian Cemetery.

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*CongBio|P000209