John Clark Ketcham (January 1, 1873 – December 4, 1941) was a politician from the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. Ketcham was born in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and accordin ...

, and moved with his parents to

Maple Grove, Michigan Maple Grove Township is a civil township of Barry County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,593 at the 2010 census. The unincorporated community of Maple Grove is located within the township. Geography According to the Un ...

near

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

, the same year. He attended the

common school A common school was a public school in the United States during the 19th century. Horace Mann (1796–1859) was a strong advocate for public education and the common school. In 1837, the state of Massachusetts appointed Mann as the first secretary ...

s of Barry County and high school at Nashville. He taught in rural and high schools from 1890 to 1899. Ketcham was county commissioner of schools for Barry County, 1899-1907, and chairman of the Republican county committee, 1902-1908. He was postmaster of

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west a ...

, 1907-1914; master of the Michigan State Grange, 1912-1920; and lecturer of the National Grange, 1917-1921. Ketcham was elected as a Republican from

Michigan's 4th congressional district Michigan's 4th congressional district is a United States congressional district that from 2003 to 2013 included portions of Northern and Central Michigan, consisting of all of Clare, Clinton, Gladwin, Gratiot, Isabella, Mecosta, Midland, ...

to the

67th United States Congress The 67th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, ...

and to the five succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1921, to March 3, 1933. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1932, losing in the general election to Democrat

George E. Foulkes George Ernest Foulkes (December 25, 1878 – December 13, 1960) was a United States representative from Michigan. Foulkes was born in Chicago and attended the public schools of Chicago. He graduated from the law department of Lake Forest Unive ...

. Ketcham was president of the National Bank of Hastings, 1933-1937; State commissioner of insurance, 1935-1937; and counsel for the Michigan Chain Store Bureau, 1938-1941. He died in Hastings and was interred there in Riverside Cemetery. He was the son-in-law, of

Samuel Azariah Shelton Samuel Azariah Shelton (September 3, 1858 – September 13, 1948) was a United States Representative from Missouri's 16th congressional district. Born near Waterloo, Alabama, Shelton moved with his widowed mother to Webster County, Missouri in 18 ...

, U.S. Representative from

Missouri's 16th congressional district The 16th congressional district of Missouri was a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in Missouri from 1903 to 1933. List of members representing the district References Election Statistics 1920-presentCl ...

, 1921-1923.

References

John C. Ketcham
at The Political Graveyard * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ketcham, John Clark 1873 births 1941 deaths Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan People from Toledo, Ohio People from Barry County, Michigan People from Hastings, Michigan State insurance commissioners of the United States