Jesse David Bright

U. S. Senator, Indiana, 1845-1862

Born: December 18, 1812, Norwich, Chenango County, New York.

• Moved with his parents to Madison, Indiana, 1820.
  
• Attended the public schools.
  
• Studied law, was admitted to the bar, 1831, and commenced practice in Madison, Jefferson County, Indiana.
  
• Elected Judge of the Probate Court of Jefferson County, Indiana, 1834.
  
• U. S. Marshal for the District of Indiana, January 9, 1840 - December 6, 1841.
  
• Became a member of the Indiana State Senate, December 6, 1841, in which he served until 1843.
  
• Lieutenant Governor of Indiana, 1843-1845.
  
• Elected from Indiana as a Democrat to the U. S. Senate, 1845.
  
• Re-elected in 1850 and 1856, serving from March 4, 1845 - February 5, 1862.
  
• Expelled February 5, 1862, for having (in a letter to hirn) recognized Jefferson Davis as "President of the Confederate States".
  
• Elected President pro tempore of the U. S. Senate December 5, 1854, June 11, 1856, and June 12, 1860.
  
• Unsuccessful candidate from Indiana for election in 1863 to the U. S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by his expulsion.
  
• Moved to Carrollton, Kentucky, in 1863 and then to Covington, Kentucky.
  
• Member of the Kentucky State House of Representatives, 1866.
  
• President of the Raymond City Coal Co., 1871.
  
• Moved to Baltimore, Maryland, 1874, still retaining his connection with the coal company.

Died: May 20, 1875, Baltimore, Maryland.
Buried: Greenmount Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland.

(Source: U.S. Congress. House. Biographical Directory Of The American Congress 1774-1949, 85th Cong., 2nd sess., H. Doc. 607 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950), pp. 759-2057.)