John G Sawyer

John Gilbert Sawyer (June 5, 1825 – September 5, 1898) was a U.S. Representative from New York.

Born in Brandon, Vermont on June 5, 1825, Sawyer was the eldest of seven children born to John F. and Mary J. Sawyer. His father relocated the family to Knowlesville, New York in 1831 where Sawyer attended the common schools at Shelby, New York and the Millville Academy (New York). In order to pursue a collegiate education, he relocated to Kentucky and later to Arkansas where he taught in local one-room schoolhouses to earn enough money for his studies. In 1846, Sawyer returned to Knowlesville and relocated to Albion, New York the following year where he studied law with Curtis & Stone before finishing with Benjamin L. Bessac. Before completing his law studies, he was elected to the position of superintendent of public schools for Orleans County, New York in 1848.

In 1851 he was elected as a justice of the peace and remained in that position for nearly 5 years when, in 1855, he formed a partnership with Sanford E. Church. Sawyer continued his progression through political office after his election in 1862 as Orleans County District Attorney and his election as county judge in 1863. As a strong supporter of education, he was placed on the original Board of Education for the Albion Union Free School in 1876.

John G. Sawyer was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican in 1884, serving three consecutive terms to the Forty-ninth, Fiftieth, and Fifty-first Congresses (March 4, 1885-March 3, 1891). A staunch Republican, he originally aligned with the Whigs and assisted in organizing the Republican party in Orleans County. Upon his return to Albion in 1891, he resumed the practice of his profession and died there September 5, 1898. He was interred in Mount Albion Cemetery.

The hamlet of Sawyer in Orleans County was named in honor of John G. Sawyer.