Northumberland County PA Archives Biographies.....Dewart, William L, 1820 - 1888

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Author: Biographical Publishing Co.



DEWART FAMILY. The American branch of this distinguished family, which has

furnished Northumberland County with some of its most illustrious sons, is

descended from William Dewart, a native of Ireland who came to America in early

colonial times. He first located in Chester County, Pa., where he remained until

1775, when he removed to Sunbury and embarked in mercantile business. He was one

of the first merchants of what is now one of the liveliest and most thrifty

towns of its size in the state. He continued in business in Sunbury until his

death, November 14, 1814.



  One of William Dewart's sons, Lewis Dewart, was born in Sunbury November 14,

1780, and during his youth assisted his father in conducting his mercantile

business. Although he was very successful in business, it was in political

circles that he attained his greatest prominence. He was one of the leading

Democrats of this section of the state, and figured conspicuously in the doings

of the Democratic party. At the age of thirty-six years he was elected to the

State Assembly, and in 1823 he was elected to the State Senate; in 1834 he was

again elected to the Assembly, serving as representative for three terms, during

the latter of which he acted as Speaker of the House. He was also elected to the

23d Congress from what is now the Seventeenth Congressional District and

acquitted himself with credit. He formed a matrimonial alliance with Elizabeth

Liggett, a native of Chester County, Pa., by whom he had one son, William L.

Dewart.



  William L. Dewart was born in Sunbury, June 21, 1820, and, after completing

the required course in the common schools, attended Dickinson College at

Carlisle, Pa., and later the New Jersey State College of Princeton, N. J. He

then took up the study of law under the preceptorship of Charles G. Donald of

Sunbury and was admitted to the bar in 1843. Like his father, he attained

distinction in politics and several times served as a delegate to national

conventions of the Democratic party. He represented the Seventeenth

Congressional District in the 25th Congress and served his constituents in a

highly satisfactory manner. He, as were his forefathers, was an adherent of the

doctrines as promulgated by the Presbyterian Church. He was a director in the

Northumberland National Bank, now known as the First National Bank of Sunbury.

Socially he was well known in the Masonic fraternity. Mr. Dewart was united in

the holy bonds of wedlock in 1848, with Rosetta Espy Van Horn of Williams-port,

Pa., and they became the parents of three sons and two daughters, three of whom

are living at the present time: Lewis, whose personal history is herein

recorded; William L., the editor and proprietor of the Northumberland County

Democrat and the Sunbury Daily; and Bessie S., the wife of Edward L. Brice, a

resident of Washington, D. C. Mr. Dewart closed his eyes in final sleep in the

town of Sunbury, April 19, 1888, at the age of sixty-eight years.





Additional Comments:

Extracted from:



Book of Biographies of the Seventeenth Congressional District

Published by 

Biographical Publishing Company of Chicago, Ill. and Buffalo, NY (1899)



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