Farrrelly, John W.

Born: 1809-07-07 Meadville, Pennsylvania

Died: 1860-12-20 Meadville, Pennsylvania

John Farrelly received limited pre-collegiate schooling before graduating from Allegheny College in 1826. He studied law, earned admittance to the Pennsylvania bar in 1828, and started a practice in Meadville. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania Senate in 1828 and in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1837. He returned to the State Senate, serving from 1838 to 1842. Farrelly won election, as a Whig, to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 1847 to 1849, alongside Abraham Lincoln. In 1849, he earned appointment as sixth auditor of the Treasury, by President Zachary Taylor, serving in that position until his resignation in 1853. Farrelly returned to Meadville and continued the practice of law until his death.

Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1996 (Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997), 1015-16; Gravestone, Greendale Cemetery, Meadville, PA.