George Vail

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George Vail

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New Jersey's 4th district
In office
March 4, 1853March 3, 1857
Preceded by George H. Brown (W)
Succeeded by John Huyler (D)

Born July 21, 1809
Morristown, New Jersey
Died May 23, 1875
Morristown, New Jersey
Political party Democratic
Profession Politician

George Vail (July 21, 1809 - May 23, 1875) was an American Democratic Party politician who represented New Jersey's 4th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1853 to 1857.

Vail was born in Morristown, New Jersey. He completed preparatory studies and attended Morris Academy at Morristown. He engaged in the manufacture of telegraph instruments. Vail was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly in 1843 and 1844, and was appointed by the Governor of New Jersey to represent the State at The Great Exhibition in London, England, in 1851.

Vail was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1850 to the Thirty-second Congress. He was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth Congresses, serving in office from March 4, 1853-March 3, 1857.

After leaving Congress, he was appointed on February 3, 1858, by President James Buchanan, as consul to Glasgow, Scotland, and served until August 10, 1861. He returned to the United States and settled in Morristown, where he engaged in literary pursuits. He was a member of the court of pardons, and served as a judge of the New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals from 1865-1871, which was the state's highest court at the time. He died in Morristown on May 23, 1875, and was interred there in the First Presbyterian Church Cemetery.

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