Biography

11/17/1817 - 06/20/1895

GRAHAM, James Leonard, a Representative from Allegheny County; born in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pa., November 17, 1817; attended, Old Allegheny Seminary; school director, Allegheny City schools (20 years); president, Allegheny Savings Bank (15 years); director of the poor, Allegheny County (9 years); elected, council, Allegheny City (1 term); lawyer, Baldwin & Graham (1857-1895); elected, sheriff, Allegheny County (1857-1861); elected, Pennsylvania State Senate (1863-1874); elected, Speaker of the Senate (1868); presided, Republican State Convention (1869); Pennsylvania representative, Vienna International Exposition (1873); elected as a Republican to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 1883 term; reelected to serve 4 more consecutive terms; elected, Speaker of the House (1885-1886); not a candidate for reelection to the House for the 1893 term; died, June 20, 1895 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; interred, Union Dale Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.