Representative Edwin James Jorden

Edwin James Jorden (August 30, 1863 – September 7, 1903) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. He was born in Spring Hill, near Towanda, Pennsylvania, in Bradford County, during the closing years of the Civil War. Raised in rural northeastern Pennsylvania, he was educated in the local common schools before pursuing further study at Keystone Academy, an important preparatory institution in the region that served as a stepping stone for many young men seeking professional careers.

After completing his early schooling, Jorden attended the State Normal School at Mansfield, Pennsylvania, an institution established to train teachers and provide advanced education in the Commonwealth. He graduated from the State Normal School at Mansfield, reflecting both academic attainment and preparation for professional life. Following his graduation, he chose to pursue a legal career. He studied law and, after the customary period of reading law under established practitioners, was admitted to the bar in 1888.

Upon his admission to the bar, Jorden commenced the practice of law in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, the county seat of Wyoming County. His legal practice placed him at the center of local civic and commercial affairs in a small but growing community in northeastern Pennsylvania. Through his work as an attorney, he became known in regional legal and political circles, which helped to establish the foundation for his later entry into public office.

Jorden’s congressional service arose from a special circumstance rather than a traditional full-term election. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-third Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative Myron B. Wright, who had represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives. Jorden took his seat on February 23, 1895, and served until March 4, 1895, completing the remainder of the term. His tenure in Congress thus lasted ten days, during which he participated in the legislative process at the close of a Congress that dealt with significant issues of the late nineteenth century, including economic policy and the aftermath of the Panic of 1893. Although he contributed to the democratic process and represented the interests of his constituents during this brief period, he was not a candidate for renomination in 1894.

After leaving Congress at the expiration of the Fifty-third Congress on March 4, 1895, Jorden returned to Tunkhannock and resumed the practice of law. He continued his professional activities in the community, maintaining his role as a local attorney and Republican figure in northeastern Pennsylvania. His post-congressional years were devoted to his legal career rather than to further national office, reflecting a pattern common among late nineteenth-century lawyers who briefly served in Congress and then returned to private practice.

Edwin James Jorden died in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, on September 7, 1903. He was interred in Sunnyside Cemetery in Tunkhannock. His life and brief congressional service illustrate the role of regional legal practitioners in the political life of Pennsylvania during the Gilded Age, as well as the occasional brevity of service that could result from filling vacancies in the U.S. House of Representatives.