Harmon Sweatland Conger (April 9, 1816October 22, 1882) was an American lawyer, partisan newspaper publisher, Whig politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing New York's 25th congressional district from 1847 to 1851. He subsequently served as a Wisconsin circuit court judge in southern Wisconsin from 1870 until his death in 1882.
Life and career Born in Freetown, New York, Conger attended the local academy at Cortland in 1833. He studied law with Horatio Ballard, was admitted to the bar in 1844 and commenced practice in Cortland, New York.State Bar Association of Wisconsin, Proceedings of the State Bar Association of Wisconsin, Volume 3, 1900, page 226
Conger was also editor and owner of a newspaper, the Cortland County Whig, from 1840 to 1845.Wisconsin Supreme Court, Wisconsin Reports: Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, Volume 60, page xli, 1885
He was elected as a Whig to the Thirtieth and Thirty-first Congresses, serving from March 4, 1847 to March 3, 1851. After his term in Congress, Conger resumed the practice of law in Cortland.H.C Goodwin, Cortland County and the Border Wars of New York, page 291
He moved to Janesville, Wisconsin, in 1855 and continued the practice of law.Western Historical Company, The History of Rock County, Wisconsin, 1879, page 702 By now a Republican, Conger was elected Judge of the Wisconsin Circuit Court in 1870. He was reelected in 1876 and served until his death.William Fiske Brown, Rock County, Wisconsin: A New History of Its Cities, Villages, Towns, Citizens and Varied Interests, Volume 2, 1908, page 715Marquis Who's Who, Inc., Who Was Who in America With World Notables, Volume 1, 1967, page 186
Death and burial Conger died in Janesville October 22, 1882.Chicago Tribune, Death at Janesville of the Hon. Harmon S. Conger, October 25, 1882Janesville Gazette, The Death of Judge Conger, October 23, 1882 He was interred in Oak Hill Cemetery.Thomas E. Spencer, Where They're Buried, 2009, page 235Janesville Daily Gazette, The Last Sad Rites: The Funeral Services of the Late Judge Conger, October 24, 1882
Electoral history
References
External links
Harmon S. Conger at Political Graveyard