Dennis, Littleton Purnell, 1786-1834

Littleton Purnell Dennis was the son of Henry Dennis and Ann Purnell, and the nephew of the Hon. John Dennis. His father, Henry, was lost at sea during a trip to the West Indies, leaving him to be raised by his mother and the Dennis family at Beverly until he went to school at Washington Academy in Princess Anne and then, later, Yale, where he graduated in 1803. Like others in his family, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1804. He gravitated toward politics and became a Presidential Elector in 1812, 1824, and 1828. He was elected a Delegate to the Maryland General Assembly where he served in 1815, 1816, and from 1819 to 1827. He became an Elector of the Maryland State Senate in 1831 and then, in 1834 he was elected as a Representative to the US Congress on the Whig ticket. He only served a year, as he died in office in 1834. Littleton Purnell Dennis is buried at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. He never married.