John Blaisdell Corliss
Encyclopedia
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
from the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
.
Early life
Corliss was born in Richford, VermontRichford, Vermont
Richford is a town in Franklin County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,321 at the 2000 census.Richford is the birthplace of R.G. LeTourneau, American industrialist who founded LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas.-Geography:...
, to Hezekiah and Lydia (Rounds) Corliss. He attended the common schools and the Fairfax, Vermont
Fairfax, Vermont
Fairfax is a town in Franklin County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,765 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 40.5 square miles , of which, 40.2 square miles of it is land and 0.3 square miles of it ...
Preparatory School and graduated from the Vermont Methodist University at Montpelier
Montpelier, Vermont
Montpelier is a city in the U.S. state of Vermont that serves as the state capital and the shire town of Washington County. As the capital of Vermont, Montpelier is the site of the Vermont State House, seat of the legislative branch of Vermont government. The population was 7,855 at the 2010...
in 1871 and from the law department of Columbian College (now The George Washington University Law School
The George Washington University Law School
The George Washington University Law School, commonly referred to as GW Law, is the law school of The George Washington University. It was founded in 1825 and is the oldest law school in Washington, D.C. The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a charter member of the...
), Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, in 1875. Corliss settled in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, in 1875 and was admitted to the bar
Bar (law)
Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...
the same year and commenced practice there.
On December 5, 1877, in Barnard, Vermont
Barnard, Vermont
Barnard is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 958 at the 2000 census.- History :The town was chartered on July 17, 1761 by a New Hampshire Grant and named after the second-listed grantee of the town Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet and since 1760 Governor of the...
, he wedded Miss Elizabeth N. Danforth, who died in 1886. They were the parents of two sons and two daughters: John B. Corliss, Jr.; Elizabeth D. Holley, the wife of Earl Holley; Margaryt M. Holley, the wife of George M. Holley; and Cullen Danforth Corliss.
Politics
He was city attorney of Detroit 1882-1886 and prepared the first complete charter for Detroit which was passed by the Michigan State Legislature in 1884. He was also president of the Michigan Lubricator Company and of the Shipman Koal Company of PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
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...
. He was also a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce.
Corliss was made a Mason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
in Union Lodge of Detroit in 1880 and during the ensuing five years became a Chapter and Commandery Mason and attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. From 1887 to 1892 he was commander-in-chief of the Michigan Sovereign Consistory and he was one of the promoters of the consolidation of the Masonic order in the Valley of Detroit, resulting in the establishment of the Masonic Temple Association and the building of the Masonic Temple on Lafayette avenue, having exclusive charge of the legislative and legal work. This association owns property to the value of more than a million dollars, title being held by the corporation created for the purpose and controlled by the board of trustees elected by the respective Masonic bodies. In 1890 the honorary thirty-third degree was conferred upon Corliss. For many years he served on the board of trustees of the Temple Association and he has been president of the Old Guard of Detroit Commandery. He was the prime organizer and first president of the Pioneer Association of Michigan Sovereign Consistory and he was also the organizer and first president of the Past Potentates, Moslem Temple. Moslem Temple, the social branch of high degrees of Masonry, was made an active organization during his services in 1887 and 1888, when he was its first active potentate.
In 1894, Corliss ran 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...
and defeated incumbent Democrat
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...
Levi T. Griffin
Levi T. Griffin
Levi Thomas Griffin was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.-Early life:Griffin, born in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, was named for his maternal grandfather, Levi Thomas of Utica, New York. He moved with his parents to Rochester, Michigan in the fall of 1847. He graduated from the...
to be elected as a United States Representative from Michigan's 1st congressional district
Michigan's 1st congressional district
Michigan's 1st congressional district is a United States Congressional district containing the entire Upper Peninsula of Michigan as well as part of the Lower Peninsula. Currently the district is represented by Republican Dan Benishek.-Geography:...
to the Fifty-fourth and to the three succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1895 until March 3, 1903. He served as chairman of the Committee on Election of President, Vice President, and Representatives in the Fifty-fifth through Fifty-seventh Congresses. He lost to Democrat
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...
Alfred Lucking
Alfred Lucking
Alfred Lucking was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.Lucking was born in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada and moved with his parents to Ypsilanti, Michigan in 1858 where he attended public schools, the Ypsilanti High School, and the Michigan State Normal College...
in the general election of 1902.
Retirement and death
After leaving Congress, he reengaged in the practice of law in Detroit where he became senior member of the law firm of Corliss, Leete & Moody. In November 1917, Corliss married his second wife, Dorothy Montgomery. In 1920 he was chosen a member of the executive committee of the American Bar AssociationAmerican Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
. Also in 1920, Corliss issued an authoritative history of the Detroit lodge of the Scottish Rite, relating in detail the early struggles of the lodge before it became firmly established in Detroit.
He died in Detroit at the age of seventy-eight and is interred there at Woodlawn Cemetery
Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit, Michigan)
Woodlawn Cemetery is a cemetery located at 19975 Woodward Avenue, across from the Michigan State Fairgrounds, between 7 Mile Road and 8 Mile Road, in Detroit, Michigan. It is one of the area's most well-known cemeteries.-History:...
.