William Johnson Bacon was an American lawyer and politician from New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

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Life

He was the son of Ezekiel Bacon

Ezekiel Bacon

Ezekiel Bacon was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts and New York.-Life:...

 and grandson of John Bacon

John Bacon

John Bacon was a British sculptor.Born in Southwark, he was the son of a cloth worker from Somerset. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to a manufacturer of porcelain at Lambeth, where he was at first employed in painting the small ornamental pieces of china, but was promoted to modeller...

. His family removed to Utica, NY, in 1815. He graduated from Hamilton College in 1822. Then he studied law at Litchfield Law School

Litchfield Law School

The Litchfield Law School of Litchfield, Connecticut, was the first formal school offering training for the legal profession in the United States. It was established in 1784 by Tapping Reeve, who would later became the Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court...

, was admitted to the bar

Admission to the bar in the United States

In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...

 in 1824, and commenced practice in Utica. He was appointed City Attorney of Utica in 1837.

He was a member of the New York State Assembly

New York State Assembly

The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...

 in 1850. Bacon was elected a trustee of Hamilton College in 1851.

He was a justice of the New York Supreme Court

New York Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in thestate court system of New York, United States. There is a supreme court in each of New York State's 62 counties, although some smaller counties share judges with neighboring counties...

 (5th District) from 1854 to 1869, and was ex officio a judge of the New York Court of Appeals

New York Court of Appeals

The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the U.S. state of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six associate judges who are appointed by the Governor to 14-year terms...

 in 1860 and 1868.

Bacon was elected as 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...

 to the 45th United States Congress

45th United States Congress

-House of Representatives:-Leadership:-Senate:*President: William A. Wheeler *President pro tempore: Thomas W. Ferry -House of Representatives:*Speaker: Samuel J. Randall -Members:This list is arranged by chamber, then by state...

, and served from March 4, 1877, to March 3, 1879. Afterwards he resumed the practice of law.

He was buried at the Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica

Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica

-Notable burials:*Ezekiel Bacon , represented Massachusetts's 12th congressional district from 1807 to 1813.*William J. Bacon , represented New York's 23rd congressional district from 1877 to 1879....

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