Lorenzo de Medici Sweat (1818-1898) a U.S. Representative, was born in Parsonsfield on May 26, 1818. He was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1837 and from the law department of Harvard University in 1840. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1841.
He returned to Maine and settled in Portland and held several local offices, including city solicitor from 1856 to 1860. A member of the Maine State Senate in 1862, he was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1863-March 3, 1865). Sweat was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1864 to the Thirty-ninth Congress and for election in 1866 to the Fortieth Congress.
He was a delegate to the Union National Convention at Philadelphia in 1868. While attending the Democratic National Convention in 1872, he was chosen a member of the National committee and served four years. Sweat was also honorary commissioner to the World’s Expositions at Paris in 1867 and at Vienna in 1873. He died in Portland on July 26, 1898, with interment in Evergreen Cemetery.
Additional resources
Lorenzo de Medici Sweat Congressional Biography: https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=S001098 (accessed January 12, 2021)