Walter C. Newberry

Who was Walter C. Newberry?

Walter Cass Newberry was a U.S. Representative from Illinois.

Newberry was born in Waterville, New York and enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War as a private in the Eighty-first Regiment, New York Volunteers. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1861, captain in 1862, major of the Twenty-fourth Regiment, New York Cavalry, in 1863, lieutenant colonel and colonel in 1864, and was brevetted brigadier general March 31, 1865.

He moved to Petersburg, Virginia, in 1865, and served as mayor of Petersburg in 1869 and 1870, resigning in the latter year. He moved to Richmond, Virginia, in 1870, and was Superintendent of public property for the State for four years.

He moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1876, and was Postmaster of Chicago in 1888 and 1889. Newberry was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-second Congress. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1892.

He died in Chicago on July 20, 1912 and was interred in Graceland Cemetery.