Thaddeus Maclay Mahon was a soldier, attorney, railroad executive, and a 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...

 member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

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Thaddeus M. Mahon was born in rural Green Village, Pennsylvania. During the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, he enlisted in August 1862 as a private in Company A, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers. After a term of service in this regiment, he reenlisted as a veteran in January 1864 in the Twenty-first Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, and served until September 1865.

Mahon studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1871, and commenced practice in southern Pennsylvania. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives from 1870 to 1872. He was the president of Baltimore & Cumberland Valley Railroad. He was also a member of the commission having charge of the soldiers’ orphan schools of Pennsylvania. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1876.

Mahon was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-third

53rd United States Congress

The Fifty-third 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, 1893 to March 4, 1895, during the fifth and sixth...

 and to the six succeeding Congresses. He served as chairman of the United States House Committee on War Claims during the Fifty-fourth

54th United States Congress

- House of Representatives :-Leadership:- Senate :* President: Adlai E. Stevenson * President pro tempore: William P. Frye - Majority leadership :* Republican Conference Chairman: John Sherman- Minority leadership :...

 through the Fifty-ninth

59th United States Congress

The Fifty-ninth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1905 to March 4, 1907, during the fifth and sixth...

 Congresses. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1906. He was engaged in business in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania

Chambersburg is a borough in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is miles north of Maryland and the Mason-Dixon line and southwest of Harrisburg in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley. Chambersburg is the county seat of Franklin County...

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He died in Scotland, Pennsylvania

Scotland, Pennsylvania

Scotland is an unincorporated community in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in Greene Township.-Scotland School for Veterans' Children:...

, in 1916. Interment was in Cedar Grove Cemetery in Chambersburg.