John B. Corliss

John B. Corliss was a member of Congress and electric railroad promoter.

John B. Corliss (1896), U.S. House of Representatives Photo.

Youth

John Blaisdell Corliss was born on June 7, 1851, in Richford, Vt. He was schooled at the Fairfax Preparatory School. In 1871, he received his B.A. from Vermont Methodist University at Montpelier. Thereafter he enrolled in the Law Department of Columbian College, Washington D.C., graduating in 1875.

Politics

After graduation, Corliss moved to Detroit, Michigan, passed the bar and started a law practice. Within seven years he was appointed the city attorney of Detroit, which he held until 1886. Among his accomplishments as city attorney was the writing of the city's first complete charter which was passed by the Michigan Legislature in 1884.

At the state Republican convention in 1892, Corliss nominated Hazen Pingree for governor. Pingree was overwhelmingly defeated by John T. Rich.

In 1897, Corliss sponsored a bill for a Constitutional Amendment for the direct election of U.S. Senators. It did not pass.

In 1895, he was elected to Congress and served four terms (until 1903). While in Congress, he chaired the Committee on Election of President, Vice President, and Representatives.

He was defeated for re-election in the 1902 election, whereupon he returned to his law practice in Detroit.

Railways

In 1889, Corliss along with A. R. McLaughlin contracted to construct the Ann Arbor Street Railway. The line was operating by September 30, 1890. They were apparently just the construction contractors, as they sold the company to Henry P. Glover and H. T. Morton on January 30, 1891.

Corliss was also the principal investor in the Jackson Street Railway in Jackson, Michigan. The JSR went bankrupt in 1897 and was sold at auction in September 1900.

Death

He died in Detroit on December 24, 1929 and is interred in Woodlawn Cemetery.