- Aaron Augustus Sargent
Infobox Senator
name=Aaron Augustus Sargent
jr/sr=United States Senator
state=California
party=Republican
term=March 4 ,1873 –March 3 ,1879
preceded=Cornelius Cole
succeeded=James T. Farley
date of birth=birth date|1827|9|28|mf=y
place of birth=Newburyport, Massachusetts , U.S.
date of death=death date and age|1887|8|14|1827|9|28|mf=y
place of death=San Francisco, California , U.S.
spouse=
profession=Politician ,Lawyer Aaron Augustus Sargent (
September 28 ,1827 –August 14 ,1887 ) was an American journalist, lawyer, politician and diplomat. He was sometimes called the "Senator for theSouthern Pacific Railroad ".Born in
Newburyport, Massachusetts , he attended the common schools and then was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker. In his youth he worked as a printer inPhiladelphia and then, in 1847, moved toWashington, D.C. , where he was a secretary to a Congressman.He moved to
California in 1849 and settled in Nevada City in 1850. There he was on the staff of the "Nevada Daily Journal", eventually becoming that newspaper's owner. He was admitted to the California bar in 1854 and began practicing in Nevada City, becomingdistrict attorney for Nevada County in 1856. He was served in theCalifornia Senate in 1856.Sargent was elected as a Republican to the
37th Congress ; skipped several terms and was reelected to the 41st and42nd Congress es. In 1861 he was the author of the firstPacific Railroad Act that was passed in Congress.He was elected to the
United States Senate and served 1873 to 1879. During his time in the Senate he was chairman of theU.S. Senate Committee on Mines and Mining during the 44th Congress and chairman of theU.S. Senate Committee on Naval Affairs during the 45th Congress.After leaving the Senate he practiced law in
San Francisco for three years, leaving to becomeUnited States Ambassador to Germany for two years, and held office until the action of the German authorities in excluding American pork from the empire made his incumbency personally distasteful. He turned down the appointment of Ambassador to Russia afterWilliam H. Hunt 's death and made an unsuccessful attempt for the Republican nomination for the Senate in 1885.He died in San Francisco in 1887 and is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery in Nevada City, California (Findagrave.com lists Sargent as being buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma, California).
References
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