Gershom Powers

Gershom Powers ( born July 11, 1789 in Croydon, New Hampshire, † June 25, 1831 in Auburn, New York) was an American lawyer and politician. Between 1829 and 1831 he represented the State of New York in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

Gershom Powers was born about six years after the end of the Revolutionary War in Sullivan County. He attended community schools, learned, however, largely self-taught. While he attended the local law school, he taught at a school in the Town of Sempronius in Cayuga County. He graduated 1810. Upon receiving his license to practice law in the same year he began to practice in Auburn. In 1820 he was appointed warden ( Superintendent ) from Auburn prison - a position which he held until 1823. Between 1823 and 1828 he was then First Judge at the Court of Common Pleas in Cayuga County. Politically, he was a member of the Jackonian Group.

In the congressional elections of 1828 for the 21th Congress Powers was in the 24th electoral district of New York in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC chosen, where he became the successor of Nathaniel Garrow on March 4, 1829. Since he gave up for reelection in 1830, he resigned March 3, 1831 from the Congress. During his time Congress he had presided over the Committee on District of Columbia.

On April 2, 1830, he was appointed Inspector in Auburn Prison - a position which he held until his death. He died on June 25, 1831 in Auburn, and was then buried in the North Street Cemetery.