Biography

04/05/1860 - 04/26/1916

Robert John Cunningham (R40) Allegheny (Part) County 1907-1908

Early Life:

Robert John Cunningham, born April 5, 1860, Elizabeth, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; son of Irish William Wilson and Elizabeth Jane "Eliza" McIntosh Cunningham; public schools; A.T. Douthett, James Dickson Academies, Sewickley, Pennsylvania ; engaged newspaper, Times and Leader; engaged, cashier, National Life Insurance Company; agent, Manhattan Life Insurance Company; common, executive councils, Sewickley, seven years; secretary, treasurer, National Water Works and Construction Company; married, Edith Gilmore, 1890, children, Harriet Little Cunningham, Edward Gilmore Cunningham; elected, Controller of Allegheny County, 1903-1906; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1907- resigned May 11, 1908; elected, Controller of Allegheny County, 1908-1915; appointed, Pennsylvania State Highway Commissioner, 1915-1916; died, April 26, 1916 (aged 56), from angina, Sewickley, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; interment, Sewickley Cemetery, Sewickley, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. 

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Controller of Allegheny County, 1903-1906. 

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 40th district, Allegheny (Part) County, 1907- resigned May 11, 1908; committee assignments, Appropriations, Canals and Inland Navigation, Insurance, Judicial Apportionment, Legislative Apportionment, Military Affairs. 

Elected, Controller of Allegheny County, 1908-1915. 

Appointed, Governor Martin Grove Brumbaugh, Pennsylvania State Highway Commissioner, 1915-1916.

Cited: 

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

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1907). Cochran, T.B., (Editor) Miller, H.P. (Assistant Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 816, 822-824, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 793.

Harrisburg Daily Independent (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) Wednesday, April 26, 1916, page 4.

Daily Republican, The (Monongahela, Pennsylvania) Thursday, April 27, 1916, page 1.

Robert John Cunningham (1860-1916) - Find a Grave Memorial