William J. Bacon

William Johnson Bacon (February 18, 1803 – July 3, 1889) was an American politician and a U.S. Representative from New York.

Early life Bacon was born on February 18, 1803, in Williamstown, Massachusetts to Abigail (née Smith) and Ezekiel Bacon. He was the grandson of John Bacon. He moved with his family to Utica, New York, in 1815. He graduated from Hamilton College in 1822. He then studied law at Litchfield Law School and graduated in 1824. Bacon studied for a year in the law office of Joseph and Charles P. Kirkland. He was admitted to the bar in 1824 and began practice in Utica.

Career Bacon was appointed city attorney of Utica in 1837 and was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1850. He was elected a trustee of Hamilton College in 1851. He was a justice of the New York Supreme Court (5th District) from 1854 to 1870

Elected as a Republican to the 45th United States Congress, Bacon served as U.S. Representative for the twenty-third district of New York from March 4, 1877 to March 3, 1879. Afterwards, he resumed the practice of law.

Personal life Bacon married Eliza Kirkland on October 23, 1828 and, subsequent to her death in 1872, he married to Susan Sloan Gillette in 1874.

Bacon died in Utica, Oneida County, New York, on July 3, 1889. He is interred at Forest Hill Cemetery in Utica.