Alexander Gordon Penn

Alexander Gordon Penn (May 10, 1799 – May 7, 1866) was a Democratic U.S. Representative from Louisiana and a long‑time public official whose career linked the politics of the antebellum South with the national Democratic Party. He was born near Stella, Patrick County, Virginia, on May 10, 1799. During his childhood he moved with his parents to Lexington, Kentucky, a growing frontier town that served as an educational and commercial center for the region. There he completed preparatory studies before returning to his native state for higher education.

Penn attended Emory and Henry College in Marion, Virginia, an institution founded in the 1830s that quickly became an important Methodist-affiliated college in the region. Although details of his specific course of study are not recorded, his attendance at Emory and Henry reflected the pattern of many young Southern men of his generation who combined classical education with preparation for careers in law, planting, or public life. This educational background provided him with the intellectual and social foundation for his later political and administrative roles.

In 1821 Penn moved to Louisiana, settling in St. Tammany Parish, where he engaged in planting near Covington. At that time the parish was a developing area north of Lake Pontchartrain, and his work as a planter placed him within the emerging agricultural economy of the state. He soon entered public life and served in the Louisiana State House of Representatives, participating in state governance during a period of expansion and increasing political organization in Louisiana. His legislative service helped establish his standing in Democratic politics and prepared him for more prominent positions.

Penn’s administrative abilities led to his appointment as postmaster of New Orleans, one of the most significant federal patronage posts in the South. He held this office from December 19, 1843, to April 18, 1849. As postmaster of a major Gulf port and commercial hub, he oversaw an important segment of the national mail system at a time when reliable communication was critical to trade, politics, and governance. His tenure in this role further strengthened his connections within the Democratic Party and the federal government.

In addition to his administrative service, Penn became active in national party politics. He served as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1844, 1852, 1856, and 1860, participating in the nomination of Democratic presidential candidates during a period marked by sectional conflict and debates over slavery and territorial expansion. His repeated selection as a delegate reflected his influence within Louisiana’s Democratic organization and his engagement with the broader national issues that increasingly divided the country.

Penn entered Congress following the death of Representative John H. Harmanson. He was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty‑first Congress to fill the resulting vacancy and took his seat on December 30, 1850. He was subsequently reelected to the Thirty‑second Congress and served continuously until March 3, 1853. During his time in the House of Representatives he served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Post Office Department in the Thirty‑second Congress, a position that drew on his prior experience as postmaster of New Orleans and placed him at the center of oversight for one of the federal government’s largest and most visible departments.

After leaving Congress, Penn returned to St. Tammany Parish and resumed his private pursuits. He again engaged in planting near Covington and also operated a lumber mill, reflecting the mixed agricultural and timber economy of the region north of Lake Pontchartrain. His postcongressional years coincided with the mounting sectional tensions that culminated in the Civil War, during which Louisiana and the broader South underwent profound political and economic upheaval.

At the conclusion of the Civil War, Penn returned to Washington, D.C., where he had previously served in Congress and maintained political and personal connections. He died there on May 7, 1866, three days short of his sixty‑seventh birthday. He was interred in Glenwood Cemetery in Washington, D.C., a burial ground that became the resting place for many nineteenth‑century political figures and residents of the capital.