John C. Churchill
Birth dateJanuary 17, 1821
Birth placeMooers, New York
Death dateJune 4, 1905 (aged 84)
Death placeOswego, New York
OccupationTeacher, lawyer
OfficeJustice of the New York Supreme Court
Term start1881
Term end1891
Office 2Member of the House of Representatives from New York's 22nd District
Term start 2March 4, 1867
Term end 2March 3, 1871
Predecessor 2Sidney T. Holmes
Successor 2William E. Lansing
Office 3Judge of the Oswego County Court
Term start 31861
Term end 31864
Office 4District attorney of Oswego County, New York
Term start 41857
Term end 41860
Office 5Supervisor of Oswego County, New York
Term start 51854
Term end 51855
PartyRepublican
SpouseCatharine Sprague (m. September 11, 1849)
Alma materMiddlebury College
Dane Law School

John Charles Churchill (January 17, 1821 – June 4, 1905) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.

Life

John C. Churchill was born in Mooers, New York on January 17, 1821.[1] He attended the Burr Seminary, Manchester, Vermont, and graduated from Middlebury College in 1843. He was a teacher of languages in the Castleton Seminary, and a tutor in Middlebury College. He attended the Dane Law School of Harvard University. He was admitted to the bar in 1847 and commenced practice in Oswego, New York, in 1848.

He married Catharine Sprague on September 11, 1849, and they had four children.[1]

He was a member of the Oswego Board of Education from 1853 to 1856, a Supervisor of Oswego County in 1854 and 1855, District Attorney from 1857 to 1860, and judge of the Oswego County Court from 1861 to 1864. He was appointed by Governor Morgan commissioner to superintend the draft for Oswego County in 1862 and 1863.

Churchill was elected as a Republican to the 40th and 41st United States Congresses, and served from March 4, 1867 to March 3, 1871. He was Chairman of the Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings (41st Congress).

He introduced bill H.R. 2634 on January 9, 1871 that would amend the Enforcement Act of 1870. The amendment would add an enforcement mechanism to the act. The bill would be enacted as the Second Enforcement Act of 1871 by Congress in February 1871 and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on February 28, 1871.

He was a delegate to the 1876 Republican National Convention. In 1877, he ran for Secretary of State of New York, but was defeated by Democrat Allen C. Beach. He was President of the Oswego Board of Education in 1879 and 1880.

On January 17, 1881, he was appointed a justice of the New York Supreme Court to fill a vacancy. He was subsequently elected to a full fourteen-year term, and remained in office until the end of 1891 when he reached the constitutional age limit of 70 years.

He died in Oswego on June 4, 1905, and was buried at the Riverside Cemetery.[2]

References

  1. ^ The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans. Vol. II. Boston: The Biographical Society. 1904. Retrieved 2022-03-01. – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ "John C. Churchill Dead". The New York Times. 1905-06-05. p. 9. Retrieved 2022-03-01. – via NewspaperArchive.