Stephen Longfellow was a 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...

 from Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

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Biography

Born in Gorham, Maine

Gorham, Maine

Gorham is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 16,381 at the 2010 census. In addition to an urban village center known as Gorham Village or simply "the Village," the town also encompasses a number of smaller, unincorporated villages and hamlets with distinct...

 (then a district of Massachusetts) to Stephen Longfellow and Patience Young Longfellow , Longfellow graduated from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 in 1798. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1801 and commenced practice in Portland, Maine

Portland, Maine

Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...

. He married Zilpah Wadsworth and, with her, had several children, including the future poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...

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He served as member of the general court of Massachusetts in 1814 and 1815. He belonged to the Federalist Party

Federalist Party (United States)

The Federalist Party was the first American political party, from the early 1790s to 1816, the era of the First Party System, with remnants lasting into the 1820s. The Federalists controlled the federal government until 1801...

 and was a delegate to the Hartford Convention

Hartford Convention

The Hartford Convention was an event spanning from December 15, 1814–January 4, 1815 in the United States during the War of 1812 in which New England's opposition to the war reached the point where secession from the United States was discussed...

 in 1814 and 1815. He also served as a Federalist presidential elector in 1816.

Longfellow was elected as an Adams-Clay Federalist to the Eighteenth Congress (March 4, 1823-March 3, 1825). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1824 and resumed his law practice for a time.

He served as member of the state house of representatives in 1826. He served as overseer of Bowdoin College

Bowdoin College

Bowdoin College , founded in 1794, is an elite private liberal arts college located in the coastal Maine town of Brunswick, Maine. As of 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowdoin 6th among liberal arts colleges in the United States. At times, it was ranked as high as 4th in the country. It is...

, Brunswick, Maine

Brunswick, Maine

Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 20,278 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area. Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, , and the...

 from 1811 to 1817 and was a trustee of the college from 1817 to 1836. He supported the Portland Athenaeum

Portland Athenaeum

The Portland Athenaeum in Portland, Maine, was a subscription library incorporated in 1826 by "Ichabod Nichols, Edward Payson, Albion K. Parris, Prentiss Mellen, William P. Preble, Ashur Ware, Stephen Longfellow, Nicholas Emery, Isaac Adams, Simon Greenleaf, Joseph Adams, William Willis, William...

. He also served as president of the Maine Historical Society

Maine Historical Society

The Maine Historical Society is the official state historical society of Maine and is located in Portland.-History:The Maine Historical Society was founded in 1822 and is the third oldest state historical society after the Massachusetts Historical Society and New York Historical Society...

 in 1834.

Stephen Longfellow died in Portland, Maine on August 2, 1849 and was buried in the Western Cemetery

Western Cemetery (Portland, Maine)

The Western Cemetery is an urban cemetery in Portland, Maine. At one time Portland's home for the "poor and indigent", the cemetery is named after for its location in Portland's West End neighborhood and proximity to the Western Promenade. Founded in the 18th century, the land was acquired by the...

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