Biography

02/20/1827 - 04/03/1899

Colonel Thomas Brownfield Searight (D24) Fayette, Greene, Westmoreland Counties 1867-1869

Early Life:

Colonel Thomas Brownfield Searight, born February 20, 1827, Menallen Township, Searights, Fayette County, Pennsylvania; son of Colonel William and Rachel Brownfield Stidger Searight; Doctr Wilson’s Academy; Madison College, Uniontown; graduated from Washington College (now Washington and Jefferson College), 1848; co-publisher, editor, Genius of Liberty, newspaper, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, 1851-1853; married, Rose Emily Flenniken, 1857, children, Emily, William, Eliza, and Anne Hamilton Searight; unsuccessful campaign, prothonotary, Fayette County, 1854; elected, Prothonotary, Fayette County, 1857-1863; elected, delegate, Democratic State Convention, 1857, 1860, 1863, 1868, 1892; elected, delegate, Democratic National Convention, 1864; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1864-1865; not a candidate for reelection, 1866 term; elected, Pennsylvania State Senate 1867-1869; founder, The Paper, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1870-1871; unsuccessful campaign, United States Congress, 1872; Presidential appointee, Surveyor General of Colorado, United States Department of the Interior, 1874-1876; unsuccessful campaign, United States Census Supervisor, 1880; elected, Prothonotary, Fayette County, 1881-1887; unsuccessful campaign, judge, Fayette County, 1883; elected, delegate, Democratic National Convention, 1884; unsuccessful campaign, judge, Fayette County, 1887; unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1894; died, April 3, 1899 (aged 72), Uniontown, Fayette County, Pennsylvania; interment, Oak Grove Cemetery, South Union Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

Authored:

Brownfield Searight, Thomas: The Old Pike: A History of the National Road, with Incidents, Accidents, and Anecdotes Thereon, 1882.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Unsuccessful campaign, prothonotary, Fayette County, 1854.

Elected, Prothonotary, Fayette County, 1857-1863.

Elected, delegate, Democratic State Convention, 1857, 1860, 1863, 1868, 1892.

Elected, delegate, Democratic National Convention, 1864.

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1864-1865; not a candidate for reelection, 1866 term.

Elected, Pennsylvania State Senate, 24th district, Fayette, Greene, Westmoreland Counties, 1867-1869.

Unsuccessful campaign, United States Congress, 1872.

Presidential appointee, Ulysses S. Grant, Surveyor General of Colorado, United States Department of the Interior, 1874-1876.

Unsuccessful campaign, United States Census Supervisor, 1880.

Elected, Prothonotary, Fayette County, 1881-1887.

Unsuccessful campaign, judge, Fayette County, 1883.

Elected, delegate, Democratic National Convention, 1884.

Unsuccessful campaign, judge, Fayette County, 1887.

Unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1894.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography:

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

Cited:

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

Col Thomas Brownfield Searight (1827-1899) - Find a Grave Memorial