Joseph Henry Sweney

Joseph Henry Sweney (October 2, 1845 - November 11, 1918) was a U.S. Representative from Iowa.

Born in Warren County, Pennsylvania, Sweney attended the public schools of Pennsylvania and Iowa.He was graduated from the law department of the University of Iowa at Iowa City in 1880.He was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Osage, Iowa.He also engaged in banking and agricultural pursuits. During the Civil War enlisted in the Union Army and served as sergeant in Company K, Twenty-seventh Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry.He served as colonel of the Sixth Regiment National Guard of Iowa for four years and brigadier and inspector general of the State.He served as member of the State senate 1883-1891, serving as president pro tempore in 1886.

Sweney was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-first Congress (March 4, 1889-March 3, 1891).He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1890 to the Fifty-second Congress.He resumed the practice of law in Osage, Iowa.He died while on a visit in Norfolk, Virginia, November 11, 1918.He was interred in Osage Cemetery, Osage, Iowa.

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