John B. Penington - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

John Brown Penington was an American lawyer and politician, from Dover, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party, who served as Attorney General of Delaware and two terms as U. S. Representative from Delaware.

Early life and family

Penington was born near New Castle, Delaware and pursued academic courses in New Castle and Newark, Delaware. He graduated from Jefferson College

Washington & Jefferson College

Washington & Jefferson College, also known as W & J College or W&J, is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, in the United States, which is south of Pittsburgh...

at Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. He engaged in teaching in Indiana for several years, but then returned to Delaware. There he studied law, was admitted to the Delaware Bar in 1857 and commenced the practice in Dover, Delaware.

Professional and political career

He was first a member of the Delaware House of Representatives

Delaware House of Representatives

The Delaware House of Representatives is the lower house of the Delaware General Assembly; the state legislature of the U.S. State of Delaware. It is composed of 41 Representatives from an equal amount of constituencies, each of whom is elected to a two year term. The Delaware General Assembly...

in 1857 and then was clerk of the same Delaware House of Representatives in 1859, 1863, and 1871. He was a delegate to the renowned Democratic National Convention

Democratic National Convention

The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...

s at Charleston

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

and Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

in the 1860 election. In 1868, he was appointed United States Attorney

United States Attorney

United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...

for the district of Delaware by President Andrew Johnson and served until 1872. He was appointed Delaware Attorney General by Governor Ponder in 1874 and served until 1879. Penington was elected as a Democrat to the 50th and 51st Congress, serving from March 4, 1887 to March 3, 1891. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1890 and resumed the practice of law at Dover.

Death and legacy

Penington died at Dover and is buried there in the Old Presbyterian Cemetery, on the grounds of the Delaware State Museum.

Penington's last years were darkened by the murders of his daughters Elizabeth and Ida, by poisoned candy. It was sent to their home from San Francisco, California by Elizabeth's husband, John Preston Dunning. He had been living in California with his mistress Cordelia Botkin, and the latter had decided to get rid of her lover's wife by poisoned candy. However, the poison was traced back to her, and Penington lived long enough to know the crime would be brought home against the perpetrator.

Almanac

Elections are held the first Tuesday after November 1st. U.S. Representatives took office March 4th and have a two year term.

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
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!colspan=7 style="background: #ccccff;" |Public Offices
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! Office
! Type
! Location
! Began office
! Ended office
! notes
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|Attorney General

Delaware Attorney General

The Attorney General of Delaware is a constitutional officer of the U.S. state of Delaware, and is the chief law officer and the head of the State Department of Justice.-Description of the office:...

|Executive

Executive (government)

Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...

|Dover

Dover, Delaware

The city of Dover is the capital and second largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, and the principal city of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County. It is located on the St. Jones River in the Delaware...

|1874
|1879
|Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

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|U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

|Legislature

Legislature

A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...

|Washington

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

United States House of Representatives

|Legislature

Legislature

|Washington

Washington, D.C.

|March 4, 1889
|March 3, 1891
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{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
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!colspan=7 style="background: #ccccff;" |Delaware General Assembly service
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! Dates
! Assembly
! Chamber
! Majority
! Governor
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|1857/58
|69th

Delaware General Assembly

The Delaware General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Delaware Senate with 21 Senators and the Delaware House of Representatives with 41 Representatives...

|State House

Delaware House of Representatives

|Democratic
|Peter F. Causey

Peter F. Causey

Peter Foster Causey was an American merchant and politician from Milford, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the American Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and as Governor of Delaware....

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|Kent at-large

Kent County, Maryland

Kent County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland, on its Eastern Shore. It was named for the county of Kent in England. Its county seat is Chestertown. In 2010, the county population was 20,197...

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
!colspan=7 style="background: #ccccff;" |United States Congressional service
|-
! Dates
! Congress
! Chamber
! Majority
! President
! Committees
! Class/District
|-
|1887–1889
|50th

50th United States Congress

The Fiftieth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1887 to March 4, 1889, during the third and fourth...

|U.S. House

United States House of Representatives

|Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

|Grover Cleveland

Grover Cleveland

Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...

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|at-large

Delaware's At-large congressional district

Delaware's At-large congressional district is a congressional district that includes the entire U.S. state of Delaware.It is currently represented by Democrat John C. Carney, Jr., the former Lieutenant Governor of Delaware.-Voting:-History:...

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|1889–1891
|51st

51st United States Congress

The Fifty-first United States Congress, referred to by some critics as the Billion Dollar Congress, was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C...

|U.S. House

United States House of Representatives

|Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

|Benjamin Harrison

Benjamin Harrison

Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...

|
|at-large

Delaware's At-large congressional district

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
!colspan=12 style="background: #ccccff;" |Election results
|-
| Year
| Office
|
| Subject
| Party
| Votes
| %
|
| Opponent
| Party
| Votes
| %
|-
|1886

United States House elections, 1886

The U.S. House election, 1886 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1886 which occurred in the middle of President Grover Cleveland's first term....

|U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

Democratic Party (United States)

| |13,837
| |62%
|
| |Richard W. Cooper
| |Republican

Republican Party (United States)

| |8,392
| |38%
|-
|1888
|U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

Democratic Party (United States)

| |16,396
| |55%
|
| |Charles H. Treat
| |Republican

Republican Party (United States)

| |12,935
| |44%

External links

Places with more information

Delaware Historical Society
Delaware Historical Society
The Delaware Historical Society began in 1864 as an effort to preserve documents from the Civil War. Since then, it has expanded into a state-wide historical institution with several venues and a major museum in Wilmington and the historic Read House & Gardens in New Castle.The society...

; website; 505 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801; (302) 655-7161
University of Delaware
University of Delaware
The university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...

; Library website; 181 South College Avenue, Newark, Delaware 19717; (302) 831-2965

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