Jonas P. Phoenix

Who was Jonas P. Phoenix?

Jonas Phillips Phoenix was a U.S. Representative from New York.

Born in Morristown, New Jersey, Phoenix received a limited schooling. He became a merchant in New York City. Alderman of the first ward in 1840, 1842, and 1847. He was appointed a commissioner of the Croton Aqueduct Works in 1842.

Phoenix was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-eighth Congress. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1844. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1846 to the Thirtieth Congress. He served as chairman of the Whig General Committee in 1846 and 1847. He was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1848.

Phoenix was elected to the Thirty-first Congress. Renominated in 1850 but declined to be a candidate. He died in New York City May 4, 1859. He was interred in the Presbyterian Cemetery, Morristown, New Jersey.