Jessie Sumner was a U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

.

Born in Milford, Illinois

Milford, Illinois

Milford is a village in Milford Township, Iroquois County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,369 at the 2000 census, and 1,257 in 2009...

, Sumner attended the public schools.
She graduated from Girton School, Winnetka, Illinois

Winnetka, Illinois

Winnetka is an affluent North Shore village located approximately north of downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois. Winnetka was featured on the list of America's 25 top-earning towns and "one of the best places to live" by CNN Money in 2011...

, in 1916 and Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts

Northampton, Massachusetts

The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton's central neighborhoods, was 28,549...

, in 1920.
She studied law at the University of Chicago

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

, Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, and Oxford University, England.
She also studied briefly at the University of Wisconsin–Madison

University of Wisconsin–Madison

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...

 and the New York University

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

 School of Commerce in New York City.

Sumner was admitted to the bar

Admission to the bar in the United States

In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...

 in 1923 and practiced in Chicago, Illinois.
She was employed at the Chase National Bank in New York City in 1928.
She returned to Milford, Illinois

Milford, Illinois

Milford is a village in Milford Township, Iroquois County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,369 at the 2000 census, and 1,257 in 2009...

, in 1932 and resumed the practice of law.
She served as county judge of Iroquois County, Illinois

Iroquois County, Illinois

Iroquois County is a county located in the northeast part of the U.S. state of Illinois along the border with Indiana. It is the third largest county in the state in terms of area, covering over . According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 29,718, which is a decrease of 5.2% from 31,334...

, in 1937.
She served as director of Sumner National Bank, Sheldon, Illinois

Sheldon, Illinois

Sheldon is a village in Sheldon Township, Iroquois County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,232 at the 2000 census, and 1,130 in 2009.-Geography:Sheldon is located at ....

.

Sumner 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 Seventy-sixth

76th United States Congress

The Seventy-sixth 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 January 3, 1939 to January 3, 1941, during the seventh and...

 and to the three succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1939-January 3, 1947).
She was not a candidate for renomination in 1946.
She resumed position as vice president from 1938 to 1966, and president from 1966 to 1994, of Sumner National Bank.
She was a resident of Milford, Illinois

Milford, Illinois

Milford is a village in Milford Township, Iroquois County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,369 at the 2000 census, and 1,257 in 2009...

, until her death in Watseka, Illinois

Watseka, Illinois

Watseka is a city in and the county seat of Iroquois County, Illinois, United States. It is located approximately west of the Illinois-Indiana state line on U.S...

, on August 10, 1994.

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