Biography

06/29/1820 - 12/06/1879

Judge Winthrop Welles Ketcham (R10) Luzerne County 1859-1861

Early Life: 

Judge Winthrop Welles Ketcham, born June 29, 1820, Wilkes Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania; son of Lewis M. Ketcham and wife; pursued classical studies; Dana Academy; Wyoming Seminary; teacher, 1843-1847; instructor, Girard College, 1848-1849; admitted, bar, lawyer, 1850-1855, 1861-1863, 1867-1873; elected, prothonotary, Luzerne County, 1855-1858; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1859 term; not a candidate for reelection, 1860 term; elected, delegate, Republican State Convention, 1860, 1864; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate,1859-1862; unsuccessful candidate, Thirty-ninth United States Congress, 1864; appointed, solicitor, United States Court of Claims, 1864-1866; elected, Republican, United States Forty-fourth United States Congress, 1874-July 19, 1876; appointed, United States District Judge, western Pennsylvania, 1876-1879; married, Sarah Urquhart, children, Ella, J. Marshall; died, December 6, 1879, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; interment, Hollenback Cemetery, Wilkes Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.

Early Career:

Teacher, Girard College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1848-1849.

Read in the law in the offices of Lazarus Denison Shoemaker and Charles Denison; Private practice, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 1850-1855, 1861-1863, 1867-1873.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, prothonotary, Luzerne County, 1855-1858. 

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1859 term; not a candidate for reelection, 1860 term. 

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 10th district, Luzerne County, 1859-1861. 

Elected, delegate, Republican State Convention, Chicago 1860, Baltimore 1864. 

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

Unsuccessful candidate, Thirty-ninth United States Congress, 1864. 

Appointed, solicitor, President Abraham Lincoln, United States Court of Claims, 1864-1866.

Presidential elector from Pennsylvania, Ulysses S. Grant, 1868. 

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district, Forty-fourth United States Congress, 1874- resigned, July 19, 1876. 

Appointed, Judge, U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania, President Ulysses Grant, June 7, 1876, vacated by Wilson McCandless. Confirmed, United States Senate, June 26, 1876, received commission on June 26, 1876. Service terminated, December 6, 1879, death.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography: 

Official Website - PA House Archives Official Website (state.pa.us)

Federal Judiciary Biography: 

Ketcham, Winthrop Welles | Federal Judicial Center (fjc.gov)

The two men who he studied law with 

Lazarus Denison Shoemaker, member, Pennsylvania State Senate, 12th district, 1867-1870; member, United States House of Representatives, Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district, 1871-1875.                

Charles Denison, member, United States House of Representatives, Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district, 1863–1867

Cited: 

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members K". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

A Manual for the Government of the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1860) Zeigler, J., page 289. 

Harrisburg Telegraph (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) Monday, December 8, 1879, Page 1

Winthrop Welles Ketcham (1820-1879) - Find a Grave Memorial