Stevenson Archer (1827–98)

Stevenson Archer ( * February 28, 1827 in Churchville, Harford County, Maryland; † August 2, 1898 in Bel Air, Maryland ) was an American politician. Between 1867 and 1875 he represented the state of Maryland in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

Stevenson Archer came from an illustrious family of politicians. Both his eponymous father Stevenson (1786-1848) and his grandfather, John Archer (1741-1810) represented the state of Maryland in the U.S. House of Representatives. He attended the Bel Air Academy and then studied until 1848 at the Princeton College. After a subsequent law degree in 1850 and its recent approval as a lawyer, he began to work in this profession. At the same time he proposed as a member of the Democratic Party launched a political career. In 1854 he was elected to the House of Representatives of Maryland.

In the congressional elections of 1866, Archer was in the second electoral district of Maryland in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC chosen, where he became the successor of John Lewis Thomas on March 4, 1867. After three re- elections, he was able to complete in Congress until March 3, 1875 four legislative sessions. Until 1869, the work of the Congress was marked by tensions between the Republican Party and President Andrew Johnson, which culminated in a narrowly failed impeachment. In the years 1868 and 1870, the 14th and the 15th Amendment to the Constitution were ratified. 1874 Archer was not nominated by his party for re-election.

After the end of his time in the U.S. House of Representatives Stevenson Archer again practiced as a lawyer. Between 1886 and 1890 he was Minister of Finance of Maryland. In 1890 he was accused of embezzlement of state funds. For this reason he was dismissed from the post of Minister of Finance and sentenced to five years in prison. In May 1894 he was pardoned for health reasons. He died on 2 August 1898.