James K. Moorhead

James K. Moorhead was born in Halifax, Pennsylvania. He served an apprenticeship at the tanner's trade, after which he became a canal contractor. He was superintendent and supervisor on the Juniata Canal in 1828, and projected and established the first passenger packet line on the Pennsylvania Canal in 1835.^[1]

In 1838 he was appointed adjutant general of Pennsylvania. He constructed the Monongahela Navigation Canal and was president of the company for twenty-one years. He was president of the Atlantic & Ohio Telegraph Co., which later became the Western Union Telegraph Company.^[1]

In his early political career he was a Democrat, but defected to the Know Nothings shortly after the fall elections of 1854.^[2]

He was elected as a Republican to the 36th Congress and to the four succeeding Congresses. In Congress he served as chairman to Committee on Manufactures during the 38th and 39th Congresses.^[1]

On March 31, 1868, he testifiedinthe impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, having been called as a witness by the prosecution.^[3]

He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1868. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1868, and an unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1880.^[1]

James K. Moorhead was the father of Pittsburgh financier Maxwell K. Moorhead, a member of the elite South Fork Fishing and Hunting ClubofJohnstown Flood fame.^[4]

He was president of the chamber of commerce of Pittsburgh from 1877 until his death in 1884, aged 77.^[1]

• "James K. Moorhead". Find a Grave. Retrieved 2009-05-12.