George M. Keim Explained

George M. Keim
Birthname:George May Keon
Image Name:Gustavus Adolphus Behne - Portrait of General George M. Keim - 1913.17.10 - Reading Public Museum.jpg
State:Pennsylvania
District:9th
Term Start:March 17, 1838
Term End:March 3, 1843
Preceded:Henry A. P. Muhlenberg
Succeeded:John Ritter
Birth Date:23 March 1805
Birth Place:Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Death Place:Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Resting Place:Charles Evans Cemetery
Party:Democratic
Alma Mater:Princeton University
Relatives:William High Keim (nephew)

George May Keim (March 23, 1805 – June 10, 1861) was a 19th-century American lawyer and politician who for three terms was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania from 1838 to 1843.

Biography

George May Keim (uncle of William High Keim) was born in Reading, Pennsylvania. He attended Princeton College, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1826 and commenced practice in Reading.

He was a major general of militia and also served as a delegate to the State constitutional convention of 1837 and 1838.

Congress

Keim was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-fifth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Henry A. P. Muhlenberg. He was reelected to the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Congresses. He was the chairman of the United States House Committee on Militia during the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Congresses.

Tyler and Polk administrations

He was appointed by President John Tyler as United States marshal for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on December 18, 1843. He was reappointed by President James K. Polk on January 3, 1848, and served until 1850.

Later career

He was mayor of Reading in 1852, and was a presidential elector on the Democratic ticket of Stephen A. Douglas and Herschel V. Johnson in 1860.

Death and burial

He died in Reading in 1861. Interment Reading's Charles Evans Cemetery.

Sources