James Lawrence Getz

Who was James Lawrence Getz?

James Lawrence Getz was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

James L. Getz was born in Reading, Pennsylvania. He pursued an academic course, and was one of the founders of the Reading Gazette in 1840. He purchased the Jefferson Democrat and merged the two papers under the name of the Reading Gazette and Democrat, disposing of his interests in 1868. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1846 but never practiced. He was a member of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives in 1856 and 1857 and served as speaker of the house during the latter year.

Getz was elected as a Democrat to the Fortieth, Forty-first, and Forty-second Congresses. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1872. He was again engaged in the newspaper business. He served as city comptroller of Reading from 1888 until his death there in 1891. Interment in Charles Evans Cemetery.