Delaware State Archives

COMEGYS, Joseph Parsons, a Senator from Delaware; born in “Cherbourg,” Kent County, near Dover, Del., December 29, 1813; attended the old academy at Dover; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1835 and commenced practice in Dover; member, State house of representatives 1842, 1848; member of the commission to revise the State statutes in 1852; appointed as a Whig to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John M. Clayton and served from November 19, 1856, to January 14, 1857, when a successor was elected; declined renomination; resumed the practice of law in Dover; appointed chief justice of the State supreme court in 1876 and served until 1893, when he resigned owing to ill health; died in Dover, Del., February 1, 1893; interment in the Presbyterian Cemetery.