Daniel Wolsey Voorhees   [1827-1897]

Daniel Voorhees was a United States Senator from Indiana who served in the United States House of Representatives for nine years during the period from 1861 to 1873, and in the United States Senate from 1877 until 1897, the year of his death. He thus represented the people of Indiana in the United States Congress for a total of 36 years.

Voorhees was born in Liberty Township, Butler County, Ohio, on September 26, 1827. He moved with his parents to Veedersburg, Indiana, while he was still a child. He attended Indiana Asbury University, now De Pauw University, and graduated in 1849. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1851. He initially practiced law in Covington, Indiana, but later moved to Terre Haute, Indiana, where he then practiced law.

Voorhees became interested in politics in 1856. He ran for a seat as a representative in the 35th United States Congress, but was unsuccessful. Two years later he became the United States District Attorney for Indiana, and served in that position from 1856 to 1861. In 1861, he again ran for Congress and was elected as a representative to the 37th United States Congress. In 1863 he was re-elected to the 38th United States Congress. And in 1865, he was again re-elected to the 39th United States Congress. But his opponent in that election challenged Voorhees’s election. His opponent was successful, and Voorhees had to resign after serving only one year in the 39th Congress.

In 1869, Voorhees ran for the 41st United States Congress as a representative, and won the election. He again ran for the 42nd United States Congress in 1871, and won that election also. There was an interruption in his congressional service until 1977, when Voorhees was appointed to the United States Senate as a Democrat. He began to serve in the United States Senate on November 6, 1877. He was re-elected twice, first in 1985 and again 1891, and served in the United States Senate until 1997. He again ran for the next Senate term, but was unsuccessful.

During his Congressional service, Voorhees served as Chairman of the Committee on the Library, and was apparently a driving force behind the establishment of the Congressional Library. He also served as Chairman of the Committee on Finance. In that capacity he voted to repeal the silver purchase clause in the Sherman Act.

There is not much information about Voorhees’s personal life except for a publication which was edited by his three sons and his daughter, Harriet C. Voorhees. The publication is entitled, “Forty Years of Oratory”, and was published in two volumes, in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1898. The volumes also include a biographical sketch by T. B. Long. Voorhees did not live long following the end of his congressional service. He passed away on April 10, 1897. He was interred in Highland Cemetery, Terre Haute, Indiana.

 

REFERENCES

Voorhees, Daniel Wolsey, http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=V000116

Daniel Wolsey Voorhees, http://1911encyclopedia.org/Daniel_Wolsey_Voorhees 

 

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