John A. Gurley

John Addison Gurley ( born December 9, 1813 in East Hartford, Connecticut; † August 19, 1863 near Cincinnati, Ohio ) was an American politician of the Republican Party. March 4, 1859 to March 3, 1863 he was a member of the House of Representatives of the United States for the 2nd Congressional District of the State of Ohio.

Biography

John Gurley was born in East Hartford. He attended the schools of the county, and then began an apprenticeship as a Hatter. He then studied theology. From 1835 to 1838 he was pastor of the Universalist Church of America in Methuen, Massachusetts. In 1838 he moved to Cincinnati and became the owner of the newspaper Star in the West. Also in Cincinnati Gurley was active as a pastor. In 1850 he was the active pastor service on sold his newspaper in 1854 and moved to a farm near Cincinnati.

In the congressional elections in 1856 Gurley ran for the Republican candidate in the 2nd District of Ohio, but without success. At the next election his renewed candidacy was successful. He moved to the U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC one. There he sat for two terms. In 1862 he could no longer be up for election. During a session break of Congress Gurley served in 1861 in the American Civil War on the side of John C. Frémont.

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln appointed him in 1863 for the first governor of the Arizona Territory. Gurley died but on the eve of his departure, one day before the inauguration, an acute appendicitis. His post took over instead, John Noble Goodwin.

Gurley was married to Sarah. He was buried in Spring Grove Cemetery.