James Bedell McKean was an American politician from New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

.

Early life

He was one of the professors in Jonesville

Jonesville, Vermont

Jonesville is an unincorporated community in the town of Richmond in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States.The community is situated at the junction of the Winooski and Huntington rivers in the western slopes of the Green Mountains. A significant portion of Jonesville is fertile farmland...

 Academy for some time. He was the Superintendent of the Common Schools of Halfmoon, New York

Halfmoon, New York

Halfmoon is a town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 18,474 at the 2000 census. The town is named for the crescent shape of the land between the Hudson River and Mohawk River....

 in 1842.

McKean was elected colonel of the One Hundred and Forty-fourth Regiment, New York State Militia, in 1844. Then he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1849, and commenced practice in Ballston Spa, New York

Ballston Spa, New York

Ballston Spa is a village in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 5,556 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Saratoga County. The village is named after Rev. Eliphalet Ball, a Congregationalist clergyman and an early settler. The village lies on the border of two...

. He moved to Saratoga Springs, New York

Saratoga Springs, New York

Saratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...

 in 1851. He was First Judge of the Saratoga County Court from 1855 to 1858.

McKean was elected as a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 to the 36th

36th United States Congress

The Thirty-sixth 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, 1859 to March 4, 1861, during the third and fourth...

 and 37th United States Congress

37th United States Congress

The Thirty-seventh 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, 1861 to March 4, 1863, during the first two...

es, and served from March 4, 1859, to March 3, 1863. He was Chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of State.

During the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, he organized the Seventy-seventh Regiment, New York Volunteers, in 1861 and served as colonel of the regiment until July 27, 1863, when he resigned his commission.

He was appointed treaty commissioner to Honduras in 1865. In 1867

New York state election, 1867

The 1867 New York state election was held on November 5, 1867, to elect the Secretary of State, the State Comptroller, the Attorney General, the State Treasurer, the State Engineer, a Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, a Canal Commissioners and an Inspector of State Prisons, as well as all...

, he ran for Secretary of State of New York

Secretary of State of New York

The Secretary of State of New York is a cabinet officer in the government of the U.S. state of New York.The current Secretary of State of New York is Cesar A...

 on the Republican ticket, but was defeated by Democrat Homer Augustus Nelson

Homer Augustus Nelson

Homer Augustus Nelson was an American politician and soldier from the state of New York. He was an officer in the Union Army during the first part of the Civil War and a United States congressman during the latter half of the war.-Biography:Nelson was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, where he was...

.

He was appointed Chief Justice of the Superior Court of the Utah Territory

Utah Territory

The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....

 by President Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

 in 1870 and served until 1875.

He was interred in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Salt Lake City.

Samuel McKean

Samuel McKean

Samuel McKean was an American merchant and politician from Burlington, Pennsylvania. He served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1815 to 1819. He was in the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1829 to 1830....

was his uncle.