Biography

10/05/1796 - 06/09/1887

John Hoge Ewing (W17) Washington County 1838-1842

Early Life:

John Hoge Ewing, born October 5, 1796, Brownsville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania; son of William Porter Ewing and Mary Conwell Ewing; Washington College, 1814; studied law, 1818-1820; construction contractor, National Road, Brownsville and Hillsborough, Pennsylvania, 1820; married, Ellen Blaine, 1820, (d.1840) children, Margaret Blaine Ewing Hallock, Elizabeth Blaine Breading Ewing Speer, George Ewing, John Ewing, remarried Margaret Brown, 1845, daughter, Clara Bascom Ewing; Pennsylvania Railroad businessman, 1831-1869; elected, Pennsylvania House, 1835-1836; elected, Whig, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1837-1842; elected, Speaker Pennsylvania State Senate, 1842; elected, Whig, United States House of Representatives, 1845-1847; retired, agricultural and business interests; died, June 9, 1887, age (90 years, 247 days) Washington, Washington County, Pennsylvania, interment, Washington Cemetery, Washington, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Early Career:

Embarked, on his first year of studies at Washington College, 1810 under the mentorship of family friend, Federalist judge, original member, Pennsylvania State Senate, and namesake John Hoge.

Pennsylvania Railroad businessman, 1831-1869, dedicated his efforts toward the construction of the railroad, substantial tracts of land in Washington County Pennsylvania, Virginia (later West Virginia) panhandle, Wright County, Iowa. Operated a small coal mine a few miles north of Washington Borough in an area known as the Meadowlands. Also involved Hempfield Railroad, Chartiers Valley Railroad, which linked Washington, Pennsylvania to Wheeling, West Virginia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, respectively.

Professional titles; business ownership; board memberships; local government; club memberships:

Trustee, Washington and Jefferson College, 1834-1887; Trustee, Washington Female Seminary, 1846-1887; Elder, Trustee, First Presbyterian Church of Washington; long-time president, Washington County Agricultural Society; board of directors, Chartiers Valley Railroad; first president, Washington-Waynesburg Railroad; director, Franklin Bank of Washington.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Pennsylvania House, 1835-1836.

Elected, Whig, Pennsylvania State Senate, 17^th district, Washington County, 1837-1842; chair, Education committee, 1838; committee assignments, Judiciary, 1838; Private Claims, 1840, Agriculture, 1841; Finance, 1841, chair, Education committee, 1841; elected, Speaker Pennsylvania State Senate, 1842.

Delegate, Republican National Convention, 1860; presidential elector, Abraham Lincoln.

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

Elected, Whig, United States House of Representatives, Twenty-ninth Congress, 1845-1847. 

Legacy:

Grandnephew, Reverend Doctor John Ewing of Philadelphia. The Reverend Ewing helped survey the Mason-Dixon Line, founded the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, and served as provost of the University of Pennsylvania.

Father, William, worked as a surveyor, settling in Heistersburg, Fayette County about 1790. 

Wife, Ellen Blaine, died, complications following childbirth.

Brothers, Honorable Nathaniel Ewing of Uniontown, father of Mary Ewing, the wife of former Speaker Presley Lane’s son, Doctor William Carr Lane

Brother, Judge George Ewing of Texas - close friend of Sam Houston. 

Cited:

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts; History of Washington County, Pennsylvania, ed. Boyd Crumrine (Philadelphia: L.H. Everts & Co., 1882), 556-558; William Hyde and Howard Louis Conrad, Encyclopedia of the History of St. Louis, vol. III (New York: Southern History Co., Haldeman, Conrad & Co., proprietors, 1899), 1228.

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