Preceded by District created Role American Politician Name George Sheridan | Children Emma Viola Sheridan Succeeded by District eliminated | |
Born February 22, 1840
Millbury, Worcester County
Massachusetts, USA ( 1840-02-22 ) Died October 7, 1896, Virginia, United States Resting place Arlington National Cemetery | ||
Political party Liberal Republican Party | ||
George Augustus Sheridan (February 22, 1840 – October 7, 1896) was an American politician, most notably serving in the House of Representatives from Louisiana for one term (the 43d Congress, 1873–1875)
Biography
Sheridan was born in Millbury, Massachusetts, and moved with his parents to Chicago in 1858. During the Civil War, he served as a Captain in the Union Army until his resignation on October 28, 1864.
After the war, Sheridan was one of a group of Northern officials who moved in to administer the defeated Southern states (often derisively referred to by Southerners as "carpetbaggers"). In 1866, he moved to New Orleans, Louisiana; there he served as brigadier general of militia on the staff of the Republican Governor, Henry Clay Warmoth. In 1867, Sheridan was made sheriff of Carroll Parish in northeastern Louisiana, which was later divided into East Carroll and West Carroll parishes.
Sheridan was elected to the House in 1872 as a Liberal Republican, after running against P. B. S. Pinchback, who was to become noted as the first black governor of a U.S. state. Pinchback contested Sheridan's seat, and the matter wasn't fully settled until February 1875, when the House Committee on Elections decided that Sheridan had won.
After his service in the House, he was appointed Recorder of Deeds in the District of Columbia, serving from May 17, 1878, until May 17, 1881, when he retired.
Sheridan died at the age of fifty-six in the National Soldiers' Home in Virginia. He was interred at Arlington National Cemetery.