- John Leeds Kerr
John Leeds Kerr (
January 15 ,1780 –February 21 ,1844 ) was an Americanpolitician .Early Years
Kerr was born in 1780 at Greenbury Point near
Annapolis, Maryland , and graduated from St. John’s College of Annapolis in 1799. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1801, and commenced practice inEaston, Maryland .A Politician
Kerr was Deputy State’s Attorney for
Talbot County, Maryland from 1806 to 1810. During theWar of 1812 , Kerr commanded a company of militia, and was later appointed agent of the State of Maryland in 1817 to prosecute claims against the federal government growing out of the War. In 1824, Kerr was elected to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses, and served fromMarch 4 ,1825 toMarch 3 ,1829 . He was unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1828, but was successfully elected two years later in 1830 to the Twenty-second Congress, and served one term fromMarch 4 ,1831 toMarch 3 ,1833 . In Congress, Kerr served as chairman of the Committee on Territories (Twenty-second Congress). After Congress, he served as presidential elector on the Whig ticket in 1840Kerr was elected to the
United States Senate as a Whig to fill the vacancy caused by the death ofJohn S. Spence and served fromJanuary 5 ,1841 , toMarch 3 ,1843 . In the Senate, Kerr served as chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings (Twenty-seventh Congress), and as a member of the Committee on Patents and the Patent Office (Twenty-seventh Congress). Kerr died in Easton in 1844, and is interred in the Bozman family cemetery at "Bellville", nearOxford Neck, Maryland .Kerr's son,
John Bozman Kerr , also served in Congress.References
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