Simon Cameron (Congressional Biographical Directory)

CAMERON, Simon, (father of James Donald Cameron), a Senator from Pennsylvania; born in Maytown, Lancaster County, Pa., March 8, 1799; apprenticed as a printer; newspaper owner and editor; cashier of a bank, president of two railroad companies, and adjutant general of Pennsylvania; elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James Buchanan, and served from March 13, 1845, to March 3, 1849; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1857, to March 4, 1861, when he resigned, having been appointed Secretary of War; chairman, Committee on Patents and the Patent Office (Twenty-ninth Congress), Committee on Public Buildings (Twenty-ninth Congress), Committee on District of Columbia (Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth Congresses), Committee on Printing (Thirtieth Congress); unsuccessful candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 1860; Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President Abraham Lincoln 1861-1862; United States Minister to Russia 1862; was again elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1867; reelected in 1873, and served from March 4, 1867, until his resignation, effective March 12, 1877; chairman, Committee on Agriculture (Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses), Committee on Foreign Relations (Forty-second through Forty-fifth Congresses), Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds (Forty-second Congress); retired from active business pursuits and traveled extensively in Europe and the West Indies; died near Maytown, Lancaster County, Pa., June 26, 1889; interment in Harrisburg Cemetery, Harrisburg, Pa.