William M. Lanning campaign button, 1903, Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives

LANNING, William Mershon, a Representative from New Jersey; born in Ewingville, Mercer County, N.J., January 1, 1849; was graduated from the Lawrenceville School in 1866; employed as a teacher in the public schools of Mercer County and in the Trenton Academy 1866-1880; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1880 and commenced practice in Trenton, N.J.; counselor in 1883; elected city solicitor for Trenton in 1884; appointed judge of the city district court in 1887 and served until 1891, when legislated out of office; member of a commission to frame township laws and of the constitutional commission of 1894; president of the Mechanics’ National Bank of Trenton in 1899; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-eighth Congress and served from March 4, 1903, to June 6, 1904, when he resigned to accept an appointment as United States district judge for New Jersey; served in that capacity until May 18, 1909, when he was appointed United States circuit judge for the third circuit, which position he held until his death in Trenton, N.J., February 16, 1912; interment in the Presbyterian Cemetery, Ewing, N.J.