Lorenzo De Medici Sweat
{{Short description|American politician}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Lorenzo De Medici Sweat
| image = Lorenzo De Medici Sweat (Maine Congressman).jpg
| imagesize =
| smallimage =
| caption =
| state = Maine
| district = 1st
| term_start = March 4, 1863
| term_end = March 3, 1865
| predecessor = John N. Goodwin
| successor = John Lynch
| birth_date = {{birth date|1818|5|26}}
| birth_place = Parsonsfield, Massachusetts (now Maine), U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1898|7|26|1818|5|26}}
| death_place = Portland, Maine, U.S.
| resting_place = Evergreen Cemetery
| constituency =
| party = Democratic
| spouse = Margaret Jane Mussey
| children = none
| profession = Attorney
| residence =
| religion =
| footnotes =
| alma_mater = Bowdoin College
Harvard Law School
| website =
}}
Lorenzo De Medici Sweat (May 26, 1818 – July 26, 1898), also written L.D.M. Sweat, was a U.S. Representative from Maine.
Early life and education
He was born in the town of Parsonsfield in the Massachusetts District of Maine, where he attended Parsonsfield Seminary, a Free Will Baptist school. Sweat attended Bowdoin College, from which he graduated in 1837, and studied law with Rufus McIntire. He attended Harvard Law School, and after graduating in 1840 he was admitted to the bar and practiced law in New Orleans.{{cite web |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/S001100 |title=Sweat, Lorenzo De Medici 1818–1898 |author= |date= |website=Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress |publisher=United States Congress |access-date=October 19, 2021}}
Marriage and family
Sweat returned to Maine and settled in Portland, where he continued to practice law. In 1849, he married novelist Margaret Jane Mussey and purchased a home adjoining author and critic, John Neal.{{cite book |last=Barry |first=William David |date=1986 |chapter=John Neal 1793–1876 |title=A Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Maine |chapter-url=https://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/attach.php?id=607163&an=1 |url=https://www.maine.gov/mhpc/programs/education/publications |location=Augusta, Maine |publisher=Maine Historic Preservation Commission |volume=3 |number=3 |editor-last1=Shettlewoth |editor-first1=Earle G. Jr. |editor-link1=Earle G. Shettleworth Jr. |editor-last2=Roger G. |editor-first2=Reed |page=2}} The couple did not have children.{{cite news |last=Gallant |first=Chris |date=November 20, 2012 |title=Margaret Jane Mussey-Sweat |work=The Portland Daily Sun |location=Portland, Maine}}
Political career
Sweat held various local offices including Portland City Solicitor from 1856 to 1860. He served as a member of the Maine State Senate from 1861 to 1862.
He was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-eighth Congress and served from March 4, 1863, to March 3, 1865. Being the only Democrat in Maine's congressional delegation, he was the only one to oppose the Thirteenth Amendment.{{cite news | title = Washington Notebook: King, Collins Earn Praise for Roles on Committee | first = Kevin | last = Miller | date = February 9, 2013 | work = Portland Press Herald | url = https://www.pressherald.com/2013/02/09/king-collins-earn-praise-for-roles-on-committee_2013-02-10/ | access-date = February 27, 2025 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20250227175141/https://www.pressherald.com/2013/02/09/king-collins-earn-praise-for-roles-on-committee_2013-02-10/ | archive-date = February 27, 2025 | url-status = live}} He was defeated for reelection in 1864, and was an unsuccessful candidate for election to Congress in 1866.
He later was a delegate to the Union National Convention held in Philadelphia in 1868, and to the 1872 Democratic National Convention. In 1872 he was selected as a member of the Democratic National Committee. He served until 1876.
He was an honorary commissioner to the World's Exposition in Paris in 1867 and that in Vienna in 1873.
His house in Portland, the McLellan-Sweat Mansion, was later adapted for use as the Portland Museum of Art, following a bequest by his wife in 1908. The same bequest also included funding for what became the L. D. M. Sweat Memorial Galleries as an addition to the rear. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970.{{cite web|url={{NHLS url|id=70000073}}|title=NHL nomination for McLellan-Sweat Mansion|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=2015-02-28}}
He is interred in Evergreen Cemetery in Portland, Maine.
References
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External links
- {{Find a Grave|20362}}
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{{US House succession box | state=Maine | district=1 | before=John N. Goodwin | after=John Lynch | years= March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1865}}
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Category:People of Maine in the American Civil War
Category:Bowdoin College alumni
Category:Harvard Law School alumni
Category:People from Parsonsfield, Maine
Category:Burials at Evergreen Cemetery (Portland, Maine)
Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maine
Category:Democratic Party Maine state senators
Category:19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives