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CAMERON, James Donald (1833-1918)
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Senate Years of Service: 1877-1897

CAMERON, JAMES DONALD, (son of Simon Cameron), a Senator from Pennsylvania; born in Middletown, Dauphin County, Pa., May 14, 1833; graduated from Princeton College in 1852, and received a graduate degree in 1855; bank clerk and cashier; president of the Northern Central Railway Co. of Pennsylvania 1866-1874; Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President Ulysses Grant 1876-1877; chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1880; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of his father, Simon Cameron, March 5, 1877; reelected in 1879, 1885, and 1890, and served from March 20, 1877, to March 3, 1897; chairman, Committee on Naval Affairs (Forty-seventh through Fifty-second and Fifty-fourth Congresses), Committee on Revolutionary Claims (Fifty-third Congress); was not a candidate for reelection; engaged in several business enterprises in Harrisburg, Pa.; died at his country home, 'Donegal,' in Lancaster County, Pa., August 30, 1918; interment in the Harrisburg Cemetery, Harrisburg, Pa.

Dickinson College Library
Carlisle, PA
Papers: 1882. 1 letter.
Historical Society of Dauphin County
Harrisburg, PA
Papers: In Simon Cameron papers, 1824-1892, on 10 microfilm reels. Originals at Library of Congress. Finding aid. Also a portrait.
Library of Congress
Manuscript Division
Washington, DC
Papers: In Miles-Cameron family papers, 1738-1919; and Simon Cameron papers, 1738-1919, available on 22 microfilm reels. Finding aid.
New Jersey Historical Society
Newark, NJ
Papers: Correspondence in Joseph P. Bradley papers, 1836-1937.
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
Harrisburg, PA
Papers: 45 items (1864, 1874, 1884-1886, 1889, 1891, 1894-1895), chiefly political and business correspondence, contained in various collections. Finding aid.
Pierpont Morgan Library
New York, NY
Papers: 1878. 1 item.
U.S. Army Military History Institute
Department of the Army
Carlisle Barracks, PA
Papers: In Cameron family papers, 1854-1894. 13 albums of correspondence, newspaper clippings, and election tally sheets concerning the life and times of Simon Cameron and his son, James Donald Cameron.

  • Harrison, Robert. "Blaine and the Camerons: A Study in the Limits of Machine Power.'' Pennsylvania History 49 (July 1982): 157-75.