Samuel Lisle Gillis, U.S. House of Representatives Democratic PA Congress & Senator

PA Senate Library: Member Biography :

10/02/1792 - 07/08/1881

James Lisle Gillis (D28) Clarion, Jefferson, McKean, Potter and Warren Counties 1846-1848

Early Life

James Lisle Gillis, born October 2, 1792, Hebron, Washington County, New York; son of Robert and Sarah Stewart Gillis; public school education; tanner and shoemaker, 1808-1812; lieutenant, Mounted Dragoons, New York Cavalry, United States Army, War of 1812, 1812-1815; wounded, Prisoner of War, War of 1812, Toronto, Kingston, Prescott, and Montreal, 1814-1815; married, Mary Ridgway, 1816, (d.1826) children, Ridgeway Brockden Gillis, Jennette Gillis Houk, Charles B Gillis; married, Cecilia Anne Berray, children, Mary B Gillis Porter, James Henry Gillis, Bosanquet Wesley Gillis, Augusta Emily Gillis Noxon, Robert Stuart Gillis, Claudius Victor Gillis, Cecilia Ann Gillis Whiting; moved to Ridgway, Pennsylvania, 1822; owner, saw and grist mill; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1841; appointed, associate judge, Jefferson, Franklin Counties, 1842; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1845-1848; mail agent, San Francisco, California; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1852; elected, delegate, Democratic National Convention, 1856; elected, Democrat, United States House of Representatives, Congress, 1857-1859; Presidential appointee, agent, Pawnees Tribe, 1859-1862; died, July 8, 1881 (aged 88), Mount Pleasant, Henry County, Iowa; interment, Forest Home Cemetery, Mount Pleasant, Henry County, Iowa.

Early Career

Lieutenant, Mounted Dragoons, New York Cavalry, United States Army, War of 1812; action at Fort George, Chipewa, Lundy’s Lane (where he was wounded), captured, imprisoned, escaped, recaptured imprisoned prisoner of war, escaped, recaptured, through surrender, Toronto, Kingston, Prescott, and Montreal, 1814-1815

Pennsylvania Politics

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1841.

Appointed, Governor David Rittenhouse Porter associate judge, Jefferson, Franklin Counties, 1842.

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 28th district, Clarion, Jefferson, McKean, Potter and Warren Counties, 1846-1848; wrote the legislation that formed Elk County.

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1852.

Elected, delegate, Democratic National Convention, 1856.

Continued Government Service/National Politics

Elected, Democrat, United States House of Representatives, 35th Congress, Pennsylvania 24th district, 1857-1859; unsuccessful candidate for reelection, 36th Congress, 1858.

Presidential appointee, agent, Pawnees Tribe, 1859-1862.

Congressional Biography

After 3 session(s) serving in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, James Lyle Gillis went on to serve in congress.

References

1. [https://www.library.pasen.gov/people/member-biography?id=4293=
2. Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography Official Website - PA House Archives (state.pa.us).
3. Cited: Cox, Harold. "Senate Members "G"". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.
4. History of Jefferson County; Genealogical and Personal History of the Allegheny Valley, PA, Vol. I, ed. John W. Woolf (NY, Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1913)
5. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18517480/james_lisle-gillis: accessed February 10, 2024), memorial page for James Lisle Gillis (–), Find a Grave Memorial ID 18517480, citing Forest Home Cemetery, Mount Pleasant, Henry County, Iowa, USA; Originally Created by, The Silent Forgotten ( contributor 46537737), added Mar 19, 2007; Maintained by Find a Grave.
6. Wikipedia
7. FamilySearch: Samuel Gillis (KT77-MXV)
8. “GILLIS, James Lisle.” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, (https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/G000209) Accessed 10 February 2024.

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