BANKS, Nathaniel Prentice, a Representative from Massachusetts; born in Waltham, Mass., January 30, 1816; attended the common schools; a machinist by trade; editor of a weekly paper in Waltham, Mass.; clerk in the customhouse in Boston, Mass.; studied law; was admitted to the Suffolk County bar and commenced practice in Boston; member of the State house of representatives 1849-1852, for two years serving as speaker; member of the State constitutional convention of 1853; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-third Congress, as the candidate of the American Party to the Thirt

Gustavus C. Bird was born in West River, Maryland on January 4, 1839 to Benjamin Lee and Emily Eversfield Duvall Bird. His father was a prominent physician in the county.  Bird entered Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania with the class of 1857.  He was a member of the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity and was elected to the Belles Lettres Society.  After graduation in the summer of 1857, Bird attended theological seminary in Alexandria, Virginia.

CHASE, Salmon Portland,  (nephew of Dudley Chase, cousin of Dudley Chase Denison, and father-in-law of William Sprague [1830-1915]), a Senator from Ohio; born in Cornish, N.H., January 13, 1808; attended schools at Windsor, Vermont, Worthington, Ohio, and the Cincinnati (Ohio) College; graduated from Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., in 1826; taught school; studied law in Washington, D.C.; admitted to the bar in 1829; commenced practice in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1830; elected as a Whig to the Cincinnati City Council in 1840; identified himself in 1841 with the Liberty

FRÉMONT, John Charles,  (son-in-law of Thomas Hart Benton), a Senator from California; born in Savannah, Ga., January 21, 1813; pursued classical studies and attended Charleston College 1828-1830; instructor in mathematics in the United States Navy 1833-1835; civil engineer assistant 1838-1839, exploring the territory between the Missouri River and the northern boundary of the United States; appointed second lieutenant of Topographical Engineers of the United States Army 1838; commenced in 1842 explorations and surveys for an overland route from the Mississippi to th

CRITTENDEN, John Jordan,  (uncle of Thomas Theodore Crittenden), a Senator and a Representative from Kentucky; born near Versailles, Woodford County, Ky., September 10, 1786; completed preparatory studies; attended Pisgah Academy, Woodford County, Ky., Washington College (now Washington and Lee University), Lexington, Va., and graduated from William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Va., in 1806; studied law; admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Woodford County, Ky., in 1807; attorney general of Illinois Territory 1809-1810; served in the War of 1812 as aide t

[Lyman] Trumbull was elected as a Democrat to the state legislature in 1840 but resigned the next year to become Illinois secretary of state. After an unsuccessful campaign for the federal House of Representatives in 1846, Trumbull vowed not to seek legislative office again. Two years later he was elected to fill out a term as justice of the Illinois Supreme Court; in 1852 he won a full nine-year term on the bench.