Representative Robert Emmett Lee

Robert Emmett Lee (October 12, 1868 – November 19, 1916) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania who served two terms in Congress from 1911 to 1915. Over the course of his public career, he rose from local business and county office in Schuylkill County to national legislative service, representing his constituents in a period of significant political and social change in the early twentieth century.

Lee was born in Pottsville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, on October 12, 1868. He grew up in this anthracite coal region community and entered working life at an early age. He was apprenticed to the blacksmith’s trade, gaining practical experience in a skilled manual profession that was closely tied to the industrial economy of his hometown. After completing his apprenticeship, he transitioned into mercantile pursuits in Pottsville, engaging in business activities that helped establish his local reputation and connections within the community.

Building on his standing in Pottsville and Schuylkill County, Lee entered public service at the county level. He was elected treasurer of Schuylkill County in 1905, an office that entrusted him with responsibility for the county’s fiscal affairs. His tenure as county treasurer enhanced his visibility as a Democratic Party figure in a region that was politically competitive and economically important to Pennsylvania. In 1908 he sought to extend his public career to the national level but was an unsuccessful candidate for election to Congress that year.

Lee achieved national office in the election of 1910, when he was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-second Congress, and he was subsequently reelected to the Sixty-third Congress, serving from 1911 to 1915 as a Representative from Pennsylvania. During these two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, he participated in the legislative process at a time marked by Progressive Era reforms and major debates over economic regulation and governmental policy. While in Congress, he served as chairman of the United States House Committee on Mileage during the Sixty-second Congress, overseeing matters related to the travel allowances of Members of the House. As a member of the Democratic Party and the House of Representatives, Robert Emmett Lee contributed to the work of the national legislature and represented the interests of his constituents from Pennsylvania in the federal government.

In 1914 Lee was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Sixty-fourth Congress, bringing his congressional service to a close at the end of his second term in 1915. After leaving Congress, he returned to Pottsville and resumed his former business activities in mercantile pursuits, reengaging with the commercial life of the community in which he had spent his entire career. Remaining active in politics, he again sought election to Congress in 1916 but was unsuccessful.

Robert Emmett Lee died in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, on November 19, 1916, at the age of 48. He was interred in St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Pottsville. His life and career reflected the trajectory of a locally rooted businessman and county official who advanced to national office, serving two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and participating in the democratic process during a significant period in American history.