Daniel Elton Somes (1815-1888) a U.S. Representative was born in Meredith (now Laconia), New Hampshire on May 20, 1815 where he received an academic education.
Somes moved to Biddeford in 1846 and established the Eastern Journal, later known as the Union and Journal; and engaged in the manufacture of loom harnesses, reed twine, and varnishes.
Mayor of Biddeford 1855-1857, he was also president of the City Bank of Biddeford 1856-1858.
Elected as a Republican to the Thirty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1859-March 3, 1861), Somes was a member of the Peace Convention of 1861 held in Washington, D.C., in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending war.
He engaged in the practice of patent law in Washington, D.C., until his death in that city on February 13, 1888, with interment in Rock Creek Cemetery.