Alexander C. M. Pennington

Who was Alexander C. M. Pennington?

Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington, Sr. was an American Whig Party / Opposition Party politician who represented New Jersey's 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1853-1857.

Born in Newark, New Jersey, July 2, 1810, he attended the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, from 1826 to 1828. He went on to study law, was admitted to the bar in 1833, and commenced practice in Newark. He was elected a member of the New Jersey General Assembly in 1837 and 1838. He served as alderman of Newark from 1837 to 1840.

Pennington was elected as a Whig to the Thirty-third Congress and reelected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress, serving in Congress from March 4, 1853 to March 3, 1857. He served as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Thirty-fourth Congress.

After leaving the Congress, he moved to New York City, where he died January 25, 1867. He was buried at the West Point Military Academy.