John T. Nixon

Who was John T. Nixon?

John Thompson Nixon was an American Republican Party politician who represented New Jersey's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1859 to 1863.

Born in Fairton, New Jersey, Nixon attended private schools and graduated from Princeton College in 1841. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1845 and commenced practice in Bridgeton, New Jersey. He served as member of the New Jersey General Assembly 1849-1850 and served as speaker in the latter year.

Nixon was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Congresses, serving in office from March 4, 1859 to March 3, 1863, but was not a candidate for renomination in 1862.

After leaving Congress, he resumed the practice of law in Bridgeton, New Jersey from 1863 to 1870. He was appointed judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on April 28, 1870, and served until his death at his summer home in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, September 28, 1889. He was interred in the Old Broad Street Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Bridgeton, New Jersey.