Biography

04/12/1839 - 12/21/1908

James Marion Weakley (R19) Cumberland and Franklin Counties 1872-1874

Early Life: 

James Marion Weakley, born April 12, 1839, Dickinson Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania; son of James and Elizabeth Lockhard Weakley; academic education, studied law, 1860; admitted, Cumberland County Bar, 1862; private law practice; enlisted, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, 1st Regiment, Civil War, 1862; married, Mary F. Sullivan, 1865, children, Mary F.Weakley, Florence J. Weakley, Francis J. Weakley; engaged newspaper business, editor and part owner, Carlisle Herald, eight years; editor, Carlisle Leader; two years; president, Cumberland Valley Mutual Insurance Company; elected, member, Carlisle Borough Council, 1865-1868; appointed, Governor Geary Assistant Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1869-1872; elected, School Board of Carlisle, 1871-1887, president, School Board of Carlisle 1877-1887; elected, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1872-1874; elected, professor of Pleading, Dickinson School of  Law, 1891-1905, Professor of Equity, Dickinson School of  Law, 1892-1905; died, December 21, 1908 (aged 71), Penn Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania; internment, Centerville Memorial Park, Newville, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.

Early Career:

Enlisted, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, 1st Regiment, Civil War, 1862. Private law practice, 1862-1908.

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

Member, Second Presbyterian Church of Carlisle; master, Saint John's Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons. President, Cumberland Valley Mutual Insurance Company.

Pennsylvania Politics: 

Elected, member, Carlisle Borough Council, 1865-1868.

Appointed, Governor Geary Assistant Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1869-1872.

Elected, School Board of Carlisle, 1871-1887, president, School Board of Carlisle 1877-1887.

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 19th district, Cumberland and Franklin Counties, 1872-1874; committee assignments, Accounts, Compare Bills, Corporations, Constitutional Reform Sub Committee Number 3 (Chairman), Divorces, Federal Relations, Judiciary General, Constitutional Reform. 

Cited:

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

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1873). Smull, J.A., (Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 515, 517, 522-524.

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1874). Smull, J.A., (Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 519, 521, 525-527.

Carlisle Evening Herald (Carlisle, Pennsylvania) Monday December 21, 1908, Page 1.

Harrisburg Telegraph (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) Monday December 21, 1908, Page 7.

James Marion Weakley (1837-1908) - Find a Grave Memorial