Member Biography

Donald Paxson McPherson Jr.

Seal
Sessions Office Position District Party
1949-1950       33 Republican
1951-1952       33 Republican
1953-1954       33 Republican
1955-1956       33 Republican

COUNTIES: Adams, Franklin  


Biography

10/06/1906 - 06/22/1984


Donald Paxton McPherson Jr. (R33) Adams Franklin Counties 1949-1956 

Early Life:

Donald Paxton McPherson Jr., born October 6, 1906, Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania; son of Judge Donald Paxton, Sr. and Elizabeth McLanahan McPherson; Gilman School, Baltimore, Maryland; Princeton University 1928; Harvard Law School, LL.B., 1931; attorney; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1949- resigned, May 3, 1956; presidential appointee, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, vice-chairman, Interstate Commerce Commission, 1956-1963; founder, board president, Gilliland Presbyterian Home, Gettysburg, twenty-five years; trustee, Gettysburg National Cemetery; married, Janet Lewis Russell McPherson, sons, Donald Paxton McPherson III, Edward Russell McPherson, Scott McPherson; died, June 22, 1984 (aged 77), Gettysburg Hospital, Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania; interment, Evergreen Cemetery, Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 33rd district, Adams Franklin Counties, 1949- resigned, May 3, 1956.

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

Presidential appointee, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, vice-chairman, Interstate Commerce Commission, 1956-1963.

Father, Donald Paxton McPherson Sr. Pennsylvania State Senate, 32nd district, Cumberland and Adams Counties, 1903-1906. 

Donald Paxson McPherson Sr. - Pennsylvania Senate Library (pasen.gov)

Cited:

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

The Gettysburg Times (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) · Saturday June 23, 1984, · Page 1.

Donald Paxton McPherson Jr. (1906-1984) - Find a Grave Memorial