Biography

10/13/1778 - 04/10/1858

Brigadier General William Marks, (D19) Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler Counties, 1819-1822 (D22) Allegheny, Beaver, Butler Counties, 1822-1825

Early Life: 

William Marks, born October 13, 1778, "Fogg's Manor," Chester County, Pennsylvania, son of William and Elizabeth McMichael Marks; limited schooling; engaged, trade of tanner, farmer; attorney, admitted, Allegheny bar;  practice, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; married, Alice Anna Hanson, 1806; appointed, Allegheny County Coroner, 1817; elected, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1810-1819, speaker, 1814-1819; Brigadier General, Pennsylvania State Militia, 1814; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1819-1825; elected, National Republican, United States Senate, 1825-1831, unsuccessful candidate for reelection, 1830; resumed law practice, Pittsburgh, 1831-1850; died, April 10, 1858 (age 79 years, 179 days), Beaver, Beaver County, Pennsylvania; interment, McCreery Lot, Old Cemetery, Buffalo Street, Beaver, Beaver County, Pennsylvania.

Early Career:

Moved, Remington (Robinson Township), Allegheny County, 1790; Brigadier General, Pennsylvania State Militia, 1814; resumed law practice, Pittsburgh after United States Senate; moved to Beaver, Pennsylvania, 1850; retired to private life.

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

32nd Degree Scottish Rite Mason; Presbyterian elder.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Appointed, Allegheny County Coroner, 1817.  

Elected, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1810-1819, speaker, House, 1814-1819. 

Elected, Democratic, Pennsylvania State Senate, 19th district, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler Counties, 1819-1822; elected, Speaker of Senate, 1821. 

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 21st district, Allegheny, Beaver, Butler Counties, 1822-1825; elected, Speaker of the Senate, 1822-1825, resigned, February 27, 1825, Judge Thomas Burnside became Speaker of the Senate, first ballot, 1825. 

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

Elected, National Republican, United States Senate, 1825-1831, unsuccessful candidate for reelection, 1830; chairman, Committee on Engrossed Bills (Nineteenth through Twenty-first Congresses), Committee on Agriculture (Twenty-first Congress); Served alongside: William Findlay, Isaac D. Barnard. Only National Republican candidate, elected from Pennsylvania as a United States Senator.  

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography:

Not currently available. 

Cited: 

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

A New Nation Votes (tufts.edu)

William Marks (1778-1858) - Find a Grave Memorial