John A. Gurley
{{Short description|American politician (1813–1863)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=John Addison Gurley
|image=John Addison Gurley.jpg
|state=Ohio
|district=2nd
|term_start=March 4, 1859
|term_end=March 3, 1863
|preceded=William S. Groesbeck
|succeeded=Alexander Long
|party=Republican
|birth_date={{birth date|1813|12|9}}
|death_date={{death date and age|1863|8|19|1813|12|9}}
|birth_place=East Hartford, Connecticut
|death_place=Green Township, Ohio
|restingplace=Spring Grove Cemetery
}}
John Addison Gurley (December 9, 1813 – August 19, 1863) was a U.S. Congressman from Ohio during the early part of the American Civil War, serving two terms from 1859 to 1863. He was appointed as the first Governor of the Arizona Territory, but died before taking office.
Biography
Gurley was born in East Hartford, Connecticut. He attended the district schools and received academic instruction before becoming an apprentice in the hatter’s trade. He studied theology and became a minister, serving as pastor of the Universalist Church in Methuen, Massachusetts, from 1835–1838. He moved west to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1838 and became owner and editor of the Star and Sentinel, later called the Star in the West, and also served as a pastor in that city. Gurley retired from the ministry in 1850, sold his newspaper in 1854 and retired to his farm near Cincinnati.
He was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for election in 1856 to the Thirty-fifth United States Congress. However, he was elected to the Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Congresses (March 4, 1859–March 3, 1863). Gurley was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1862 to the Thirty-eighth Congress.
During the Civil War, Gurley served as colonel and aide-de-camp on the staff of Gen. John C. Frémont in 1861 when Congress was not in session. In 1863, Gurley was appointed Governor of the Arizona Territory by President Abraham Lincoln, but he died of a sudden attack of appendicitis in Green Township, near Cincinnati, on the eve of his departure to assume his duties. He was buried in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati. Granite Mountain (Arizona), a prominent feature outside Prescott, Arizona was originally named Mount Gurley in his honor.{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ruhSAAAAIBAJ&pg=2027%2C3569350 | title=Colorful names abound throughout Arizona | work=The Prescott Courier | date=Sep 15, 1988 | accessdate=24 May 2015 | author=Ruffner, Budge | pages=4A}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{CongBio|G000530}}
- [http://www.uua.org/uuhs/duub/register/1865.html Universalist Register bio of Gurley] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060701093823/http://www.uua.org/uuhs/duub/register/1865.html |date=2006-07-01 }}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{succession box
|title = U.S. Representative from Ohio's 2nd District
|before = William S. Groesbeck
|after = Alexander Long
|years = 1859 – 1863}}
{{s-end}}
{{OhioRepresentatives02}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurley, John A.}}
Category:People from East Hartford, Connecticut
Category:Politicians from Cincinnati
Category:People of Ohio in the American Civil War
Category:Burials at Spring Grove Cemetery
Category:Clergy of the Universalist Church of America
Category:19th-century American newspaper publishers (people)
Category:19th-century American journalists
Category:Deaths from appendicitis
Category:American male journalists
Category:19th-century American male writers
Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio
Category:19th-century American clergy
Category:19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives