Louis Evans Atkinson was a physician, attorney, and 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...

 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...

.

Biography

Louis E. Atkinson was born in Delaware Township, Juniata County, Pennsylvania

Delaware Township, Juniata County, Pennsylvania

Delaware Township is a township in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,464 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water.Delaware Township is bordered by...

. He attended the common schools and Airy View and Milnwood Academies. He studied medicine and was graduated from the medical department of the College of the City of New York

City College of New York

The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...

 in 1861.

During the early days of 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 entered the medical department of the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 on September 5, 1861. He served as assistant surgeon in the First Pennsylvania Reserve Cavalry and as surgeon of the One Hundred and Eighty-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, until mustered out in December 1865.

He was disabled while in the Army and, being unable to practice medicine, studied law. He was admitted to the bar in September 1870 and commenced practice in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania

Mifflintown, Pennsylvania

Mifflintown is a borough in and the county seat of Juniata County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 861 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Mifflintown is located at ....

.

Atkinson was elected as a Republican to the Forty-eighth

48th United States Congress

The Forty-eighth 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, 1883 to March 4, 1885, during the last two years...

 and to the four succeeding Congresses. He served as chairman of the United States Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Treasury during the Fifty-first

51st United States Congress

The Fifty-first United States Congress, referred to by some critics as the Billion Dollar 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...

Congress. He became a candidate for renomination in 1892, but ultimately withdrew. He resumed the practice of law in Mifflintown. He was appointed president judge of the forty-first Pennsylvania district and served one year.

He died in Mifflintown in 1910. Interment was in the Presbyterian Cemetery.