Library of Congress

CONGER, Omar Dwight, a Representative and a Senator from Michigan; born in Cooperstown, Otsego County, N.Y., April 1, 1818; moved with his father to Huron County, Ohio, in 1824; pursued academic studies at Huron Institute, Milan, Ohio, and was graduated from Western Reserve College, Hudson, Ohio, in 1841; engaged in mineral explorations of the Lake Superior copper and iron regions in connection with the Michigan State Geological Survey 1845-1847; engaged in the practice of law in Port Huron, Mich., in 1848; elected judge of the St. Clair county court in 1850; member, State senate 1855-1859, and served as President pro tempore in 1859; member of the State military board during the Civil War, holding the rank of colonel; member of the State constitutional convention in 1866; elected as a Republican to the Forty-first and to the five succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1869, until March 3, 1881, when he resigned to become Senator; chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Department of State (Forty-second Congress), Committee on Patents (Forty-third Congress); elected in 1881 as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1881, to March 3, 1887; unsuccessful candidate for renomination; chairman, Committee on Manufactures (Forty-seventh Congress), Committee on Revision of the Laws (Forty-eighth Congress), Committee on Post Office and Post Roads (Forty-ninth Congress); engaged in the practice of law in Washington, D.C.; died in Ocean City, Worcester County, Md., July 11, 1898; interment in Lakeside Cemetery, Port Huron, Mich.