Justin Rice Whiting (Michigan Congressman)

Justin Rice Whiting (February 18, 1847 – January 31, 1903) 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 ...

. Whiting was born in

Bath, New York Bath is a town in Steuben County, New York, United States, with an area of 96.3 square miles (249 km2) and a population of 11,426 in 2020. Its largest settlement is the Village of Bath, which has an area of 2.9 sq mi (7.5 km2) and a population ...

, and moved to Michigan in 1849 with his parents, who settled in St. Clair, Michigan. He attended the public schools and the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

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from 1863 to 1865. He worked as a merchant and manufacturer. Whiting was elected mayor of St. Clair in 1879 and represented the 17th District in the

Michigan State Senate The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, adopt ...

in 1882. He was elected as a Democrat from

Michigan's 7th congressional district Michigan's 7th congressional district is a United States congressional district in Southern Michigan and portions of Central Michigan. From 2004 to 2013 it consisted of all of Branch, Eaton, Hillsdale, Jackson, and Lenawee counties, and inc ...

to the

50th United States Congress The 50th 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, 188 ...

and reelected to the 51st, 52nd, and

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Congresses, serving from March 4, 1887 until March 3, 1895. After leaving Congress, Whiting resumed his former business pursuits in St. Clair. He was an unsuccessful Fusion candidate for

Governor of Michigan The governor of Michigan is the head of state, head of government, and chief executive of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as th ...

in 1898, losing to incumbent Republican

Hazen S. Pingree Hazen Stuart Pingree (August 30, 1840 – June 18, 1901) was a four-term Republican mayor of Detroit (1889–1897) and the 24th Governor of the U.S. State of Michigan (1897–1901). A Yankee who migrated from New England, he was a successful R ...

. He also ran for election in 1900 to the

57th Congress The 57th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1901, to ...

, losing to incumbent Republican Edgar Weeks. Whiting married Emily F. Owen, with whom he had 10 children. Their son, also named Justin Rice Whiting (1886–1965), was president of the Consumers Power Company from 1949 to 1959. Whiting also served as chairman of the Democratic State central committee. He died in St. Clair and is interred there at Hillside Cemetery.

References

The Political Graveyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whiting, Justing Rice 1847 births 1903 deaths Burials in Michigan Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan Mayors of places in Michigan Michigan Silverites Democratic Party Michigan state senators People from Bath, New York People from St. Clair, Michigan University of Michigan alumni 19th-century American politicians