Matthew Diamond Lagan (June 20, 1829 – April 8, 1901) 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

Louisiana's 2nd congressional district Louisiana's 2nd congressional district contains nearly all of the city of New Orleans and stretches west and north to Baton Rouge. The district is currently represented by Democrat Troy Carter. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of D+17 ...

from 1887 to 1889 and 1891 to 1893. He was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

. Lagan was born in

Maghera Maghera ( ; ) is a small town at the foot of the Glenshane Pass in Northern Ireland. Its population was 4,235 in the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. Formerly in the Barony (Ireland), barony of Loughinsholin within the historic County ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, and immigrated to the United States at age 14. In New Orleans, he fitted out vessels for the

Confederate Navy The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the Navy, naval branch of the Confederate States Armed Forces, established by an act of the Confederate States Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the Amer ...

, and served in the Confederate Navy himself. He was elected to terms on the New Orleans City Council in 1867 and 1882. After serving his first term in Congress, he chose not to run for reelection, but then ran in 1890 and defeated his successor,

Hamilton D. Coleman Hamilton Dudley Coleman (May 12, 1845 – March 16, 1926) was a businessman and politician who served one term between 1889 and 1891 in the United States House of Representatives representing Louisiana's 2nd congressional district (New Orlea ...

. Lagan died in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, Louisiana on April 8, 1901, and is buried in

Metairie Cemetery Metairie Cemetery is a historic cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, founded in 1872. The name has caused some people to mistakenly presume it is located in Metairie, Louisiana, but it is located within the New Orleans city limits ...

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lagan, Matthew D. 1829 births 1901 deaths People of Louisiana in the American Civil War New Orleans City Council members Irish emigrants to the United States People from Maghera Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives