John A. McShane

Who was John A. McShane?

John Albert McShane was a Nebraska Democratic politician. He was the first Democrat to be elected to the United States House of Representatives from Nebraska.

McShane was born in New Lexington, Ohio on August 25, 1850. In 1871 he moved to the Wyoming Territory, and in 1874 he moved to Omaha, Nebraska. He started out in the livestock business but eventually became a director of the First National Bank of Omaha.

McShane was elected to the Nebraska state house of representatives in 1880 and to the state senate in 1882, serving there until 1886. That year he ran for and won the seat in Nebraska's 1st congressional district, serving in the Fiftieth United States Congress from March 4, 1887 to March 3, 1889. He returned to Omaha and died there on November 10, 1923; he was buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Omaha.