Louis E. McComas

Who was Louis E. McComas?

Louis Emory McComas, a Republican, was a member of the U.S. Congress from the sixth district of Maryland from 1883 to 1891, and a member of the United States Senate from 1899 to 1905, each time representing the State of Maryland. His granddaughter, Katharine Byron, and great-grandson, Goodloe Byron, also represented Maryland in the U.S. Congress.

McComas was born near Hagerstown, Maryland. He attended St. James College in Maryland and, in 1866, graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In 1868, after studying law, McComas was admitted to the bar and began practice in Hagerstown, where he was a communicant at Saint John's Church.

In 1876, McComas was defeated in his bid for a seat in the Forty-fifth Congress, but after nearly a decade out of politics, McComas was elected in 1882 to the Forty-eighth and to the three succeeding Congresses. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1890 to the Fifty-second Congress.

Following his tenure in Congress, McComas served as secretary of the Republican National Committee 1892.