Augustine Lonergan

Augustine John Lonergan (May 20, 1874 – October 18, 1947) was a United States Senator and Representative from Connecticut and a member of the Democratic Party. Over the course of a long public career, he served multiple terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and one term in the U.S. Senate, contributing to the legislative process during a significant period in American history. His service in Congress, which included representation of Connecticut in both chambers, extended in various capacities from 1913 to 1939, with his tenure in the Senate running from 1933 to 1939.

Lonergan was born on May 20, 1874, in Thompson, Connecticut, to a father who had emigrated from Ireland and a Canadian mother of Irish descent. He spent his early years in Connecticut and attended public schools in Rockville and Bridgeport. Demonstrating an early interest in the law and public affairs, he pursued legal studies and was admitted to the bar in 1901. He continued his education at Yale Law School, from which he graduated in 1902, and soon thereafter established a law practice in Hartford, Connecticut.

In Hartford, Lonergan built a professional reputation as an attorney while also engaging in local public service. He served as a member of the city planning commission, reflecting his interest in urban development and municipal governance. From 1910 to 1912 he held the position of assistant corporation counsel of Hartford, providing legal advice and representation to the city. His early involvement in local government and Democratic politics laid the groundwork for his subsequent campaigns for federal office.

Lonergan first sought a seat in Congress in 1910 but was unsuccessful. He was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut’s 1st congressional district in 1912 and served in the Sixty-third Congress from March 4, 1913, to March 3, 1915. Although he was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1914, he returned to the House after winning elections in 1916 and 1918. He served in the Sixty-fifth and Sixty-sixth Congresses from March 4, 1917, to March 3, 1921, representing his Hartford-area constituents during World War I and the immediate postwar period. After leaving the House in 1921, he remained active in politics, running unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1920 against incumbent Republican Senator Frank B. Brandegee and again in 1928, when he lost to Republican nominee Frederic C. Walcott.

Lonergan reentered the House of Representatives following his election in 1930, serving in the Seventy-second Congress from March 4, 1931, to March 3, 1933. In 1932, amid a national Democratic landslide during the Great Depression, he successfully ran for the United States Senate from Connecticut. He narrowly defeated incumbent Republican Senator Hiram Bingham III and took office on March 4, 1933. As a U.S. Senator, he served one full term, from March 4, 1933, to January 3, 1939. During these years, which coincided with the New Deal era, he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his Connecticut constituents in debates over economic recovery, social policy, and federal reform. Although the existing record notes his service in Congress from 1913 to 1939, his continuous tenure in the Senate itself was from 1933 to 1939. He was defeated for reelection in 1938 by Republican John A. Danaher.

After leaving the Senate, Lonergan resumed the practice of law, this time in Washington, D.C., where his experience in both houses of Congress informed his legal and advisory work. He continued to reside and work in the nation’s capital until his death. Augustine John Lonergan died on October 18, 1947, in Washington, D.C. He was interred at Mount St. Benedict’s Cemetery in Hartford, Connecticut, returning in death to the state he had represented for many years in the United States Congress.