James Lawrence Getz was a Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

.

James L. Getz was born in Reading, Pennsylvania

Reading, Pennsylvania

Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...

. He pursued an academic course, and was one of the founders of the Reading Gazette in 1840. He purchased the Jefferson Democrat and merged the two papers under the name of the Reading Gazette and Democrat, disposing of his interests in 1868. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1846 but never practiced. He was a member of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives in 1856 and 1857 and served as speaker of the house during the latter year.

Getz was elected as a Democrat to the Fortieth

40th United States Congress

The Fortieth 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, 1867 to March 4, 1869, during the third and fourth...

, Forty-first

41st United States Congress

-House of Representatives:- Senate :* President : Schuyler Colfax* President pro tempore: Henry B. Anthony - House of Representatives :* Speaker: James G. Blaine -Members:This list is arranged by chamber, then by state...

, and Forty-second

42nd United States Congress

The Forty-second 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, 1871 to March 3, 1873, during the third and fourth...

 Congresses. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1872

United States House election, 1872

The U.S. House election, 1872 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1872 which coincided with the re-election of President Ulysses S. Grant....

. He was again engaged in the newspaper business. He served as city comptroller

Comptroller

A comptroller is a management level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization.In British government, the Comptroller General or Comptroller and Auditor General is in most countries the external auditor of the budget execution of the...

 of Reading from 1888 until his death there in 1891. Interment in Charles Evans Cemetery.

Sources

• The Political Graveyard