Biography

09/03/1793 - 08/06/1876

Abraham Shortz (D10) Lehigh and Northampton Counties 1839-1840

Early Life:

Abraham Shortz, born September 3, 1793, Nazareth Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania; son of Abraham and Sarah Shortz; moved, Mauch Chunk, 1820; contractor, Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company; lumber manufacturer; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1836-1838; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1839-1840; appointed, trustee and receiver, form, Carbon County, 1843; treasurer, Carbon County, 1845-1846; commissioner, Carbon County, 1850-1859; married, Sarah Rothermel Shortz, children, Edwin Shortz, Katherine Virginia Ely; died, August 6, 1876, (aged 82 years, 11 months, 3 days), Mauch Chunk, (now Jim Thorpe) Carbon County, Pennsylvania interment Mauch Chunk Cemetery, Jim Thorpe, Carbon County, Pennsylvania. 

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1836-1838.

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate 10th district, Lehigh and Northampton Counties, 1839-1840.

Appointed, one of the five trustees and receivers, Governor David Rittenhouse Porter, to form, Carbon County and name Mauch Chunk, Carbon County seat, 1843. 

Treasurer, Carbon County, 1845-1846; commissioner, Carbon County, 1850-1859. 

Pennsylvania State House of Representatives Biography:

Not currently available. 

Legacy: 

Wife, Sarah Rothermel Shortz, sister of famed Pennsylvania master painter, Peter P. Rothermel, whose "Battle of Gettysburg," currently hangs in the Pennsylvania State Museum across the street from the Pennsylvania State Capitol, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 

Cited:

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

Abraham Shortz (1793-1876) - Find a Grave Memorial