Joseph Ripley Chandler (August 22, 1792 – July 10, 1880) was a Whig member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

Joseph Ripley Chandler
United States Ambassador to the Two Sicilies
In office
June 15, 1858 – November 15, 1860
PresidentJames Buchanan
Preceded byRobert Dale Owen
Succeeded byEmbassy closed
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 2nd district
In office
March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1855
Preceded byJoseph R. Ingersoll
Succeeded byJob R. Tyson
Personal details
Born(1792-08-22)August 22, 1792
Kingston, Massachusetts
DiedJuly 10, 1880(1880-07-10) (aged 87)
Political partyWhig

Biography

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Joseph R. Chandler was born in Kingston, Massachusetts. He was engaged in commercial work in Boston, Massachusetts, and moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1815. He founded a young ladies' seminary and worked as editor of the United States Gazette from 1822 to 1847. He was a member of the Philadelphia City Council from 1832 to 1848, and a member of the State constitutional convention in 1837. For a short time, he was an editorial assistant at Graham's Magazine in 1848.[1]

Chandler was elected as a Whig to the Thirty-first, Thirty-second, and Thirty-third Congresses. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1854. He was appointed by President James Buchanan as Minister to the Two Sicilies and served from June 15, 1858, to November 15, 1860.[2]

He served as president of the board of directors of Girard College. He became interested in prison reform and was a delegate to the International Prison Congress held at London in 1872. He died in 1880 in Philadelphia, where he was interred in New Cathedral Cemetery.

References

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  1. ^ Oberholtzer, Ellis Paxson. The Literary History of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs & Co., 1906. ISBN 1-932109-45-5. p. 273
  2. ^ "Joseph Ripley Chandler", Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute

Bibliography

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  • Gerrity, Frank. "The Disruption of the Philadelphia Whigocracy: Joseph R. Chandler, Anti-Catholicism, and the Congressional Election of 1854." Pennsylvania Magazine, 111 (April 1987): 161–94.

Sources

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U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district

1849–1855
Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador (as Minister Resident) to the Two Sicilies
1858–1860
Succeeded by
Embassy closed