John Appleton courtesy (Maine State Museum)
(1815-1864), a U.S. Representative born in Beverly, Massachusetts on February 11, 1815, was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1834.
He studied law at the Cambridge Law School, was admitted to the Cumberland bar in 1837, and commenced practice in Portland. Appleton engaged in editorial work on the Eastern Argus and became editor in 1838.
Register of Probate for Cumberland County in 1840 and 1842-1844; he became chief clerk of the Navy Department 1845-1848 and of the Department of State from January 26 to April 25, 1848.
After serving as Minister to Bolivia from March 30, 1848, to May 4, 1849, he was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-second Congress (March 4, 1851-March 3, 1853), but was not a candidate for reelection in 1852.
Appleton resumed the practice of law and shortly returned to diplomatic posts, first as secretary of the legation in London from February 19 to November 16, 1855, then as Assistant Secretary of State from April 4, 1857 to June 8, 1860, and finally as Minister to Russia from June 1860 to June 7, 1861, when he resigned.
He died in Portland August 22, 1864, with interment in Evergreen Cemetery.