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History and Government—Congressional Biographies—Illinois / Minnesota / MissouriJames SHIELDS
(1806/1810-1879)
Senate Years of Service:
1849-1855; 1858-1859; 1879-1879Party: Democrat; Democrat;
DemocratSHIELDS, James, (nephew of
James Shields [1762-1831]), a Senator from Illinois, Minnesota, and
Missouri; born in Altmore, County Tyrone, Ireland, in either 1806
or 1810; attended a hedge school, private schools, and pursued
classical studies; immigrated to the United States about 1826;
studied law; admitted to the bar in 1832 and commenced practice in
Kaskaskia, Randolph County, Ill.; member, State house of
representatives 1836; auditor of the State 1839; judge of the
supreme court of Illinois 1843; Commissioner of the General Land
Office 1845-1847; during the Mexican War was commissioned brigadier
general of Volunteers in 1846, brevetted major general in 1847, and
honorably discharged in 1848; appointed Governor of Oregon
Territory by President James Polk in 1848 and resigned in 1849;
elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate from Illinois for
the term commencing March 4, 1849; upon his appearance to take his
seat on March 5, 1849, a resolution was presented raising the
question of his eligibility; took his seat on March 6, 1849, but on
March 15, 1849, the Senate declared his election void on the ground
that he had not been a citizen of the United States the number of
years required by the Constitution; immediately elected for the
same term and served from October 27, 1849, to March 3, 1855,
taking oath of office on December 3, 1849; unsuccessful candidate
for reelection; chairman, Committee on the District of Columbia
(Thirty-second and Thirty-third Congresses), Committee on Military
Affairs (Thirty-second and Thirty-third Congresses); moved to
Minnesota in 1855; upon the admission of Minnesota as a State into
the Union was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate and
served from May 11, 1858, to March 3, 1859; unsuccessful candidate
for reelection; chairman, Committee on Revolutionary Claims
(Thirty-fifth Congress); moved to California; during the Civil War
served in the Union Army as brigadier general of volunteers from
1861 to 1863, when he resigned and returned to California; moved to
Carrollton, Mo., and resumed the practice of law; member, State
house of representatives 1874, 1879; served as railroad
commissioner; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate
from Missouri on January 22, 1879, to fill the vacancy caused by
the death of Lewis V. Bogy and served from January 27, 1879, to
March 3, 1879; declined to be a candidate for renomination; died in
Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa, June 1, 1879; interment in St.
Mary’s Cemetery, Carrollton, Carroll County, Mo.
Bibliography
Dictionary of American Biography; Condon, William. Life
of Major General James Shields. Chicago: Press of Blakely
Printing Co., 1900; Curran, Judith. “The Career of James
Shields, an Immigrant Irishman in Nineteenth Century
America.” Ed.D. dissertation, Columbia University Teachers
College, 1980.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
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