Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Louis E. McComas (1846-1907)
MSA SC 3520-2074

Biography:

Born near Hagerstown, Maryland, on the Downs Farm, Washington County, October 28, 1846.  Son of Frederick C. and Catherine (Angle) McComas.  Attended St. James College, Baltimore, Maryland; graduated from Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 1866; studied law under Judge Richard H. Alvey, Hagerstown.  Admitted to the bar, 1868.  Married Leah Humrichouse on September 23, 1875; children Mary, Katherine.  Lutheran.  Died November 10, 1907 in Washington, D.C.  Buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Hagerstown, Washington County, Md.

Practiced law in Hagerstown in partnership with Judge Daniel Weisel and later with the firm of L. E. & F. F. McComas, 1868-92.  Professor of international law, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.  Unsuccessful Republican candidate for congress, 1876.  U.S. Representative (Republican), 1883-91; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1890.  Secretary, Republican National Committee, 1892.  Appointed by President Benjamin Harrison associate justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, 1892-99.  U.S. Senate (Republican), 1899-1905.  Chair, Committee on Organization, Conduct, and Expenditures of Executive Departments, Committee on Education and Labor.  Associate delegate, Republican National Convention, 1890, 1900, 1904.  Appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt justice of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, 1905-07.  Trustee, Dickinson College, 1875-1907.  Louis Emory McComas was the grandfather of Katharine Edgar Byron (1902-1976), the first woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland, and the great-grandfather of Goodloe Edgar Byron.

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