Gustavus Sessinghaus (November 8, 1838 – November 16, 1887) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from the State of

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. Sessinghaus was born on November 8, 1838 in Köln (Cologne), North Rhine-Westphalia, then part of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

. After pursuing preparatory studies in Germany, he immigrated to the United States and settled in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, a city with a majority German speaking population, where he worked in the milling business. During the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, he served as a private in Company A, Fifth Regiment, of the United States Reserve Corps, Missouri Volunteer Infantry. After the war, Sessinghaus became politically active as a member of the Republican Party. From 1878 to 1880 he served as a member of the St. Louis School Board. In the 1880 congressional election, he was defeated by Democrat Richard Graham Frost in Missouri's third district. Sessinghaus, however, appealed against the outcome of the election. Congress did not decide in his favor until the penultimate day of the legislative period, on March 2, 1883. Thus, he was only able to serve in the Forty-seventh Congress for two days (March 2, 1883 – March 3, 1883). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Forty-eighth Congress. After leaving the U.S. House of Representatives, Sessinghaus continued his work as a miller. He died in

, on November 16, 1887, and was interred at

Bellefontaine Cemetery Bellefontaine Cemetery is a nonprofit, non-denominational cemetery and arboretum in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1849 as a rural cemetery, Bellefontaine has several architecturally significant monuments and mausoleums such as the Louis Su ...

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sessinghaus, Gustavus 1838 births 1887 deaths Prussian emigrants to the United States Union army soldiers School board members in Missouri Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri Politicians from St. Louis Burials at Bellefontaine Cemetery 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives