Biography

07/12/1849 - 12/20/1912

SWEENEY, James A., a Representative from Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties; born, July 12, 1849 in Allentown, Lehigh County, Pa.; attended, Bloomsburg Literary Institute (now Bloomsburg State University of Pennsylvania); miner; staff reporter, Hazleton Anthracite Recorder; staff writer, Hazleton Sentinel; staff writer, Hazleton Independent Democrat; elected as a Democrat to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1882 and 1884; not a candidate for reelection to the House (1886); correspondent and associate editor, Hazleton Plain Speaker; unsuccessful campaign for reelection to the House (1894, 1900); private secretary, Rep. William T. Creasy, chair, Democratic State Committee (1901-1902); appointed, doorkeeper, Pennsylvania State Senate (1902); appointed, sergeant-at-arms, Pennsylvania State Senate (1909-1910); appointed, sergeant-at-arms, Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1911-1912); died, December 20, 1912 in Hazleton, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania; interred, Saint Gabriel Roman Catholic Cemetery, Hazleton, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.