Introduction
Lyman Kidder Bass (November 13, 1836 – May 11, 1889) was an American politician and a U.S. Representative from New York.
Biography
Born in the town of Alden, New York, Bass attended the common schools and was graduated from Union College, Schenectady, New York, in 1856. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1858. He commenced practice in Buffalo, New York. He married Frances Esther Metcalfe Wolcott and they had one child, Lyman Metcalfe Bass.
Career
In 1865, Bass ran against Grover Cleveland and was narrowly elected district attorney for Erie County. He served in this role from 1865 to 1872. He was renominated in 1871, but declined to accept. In 1870, he was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for election to the Forty-second Congress.
Bass was elected as a Republican U. S. Representative for the thirty-first district of New York to the Forty-third; and as Representative for the thirty-second district to the Forty-fourth Congresses. He served from March 4, 1873 to March 3, 1877. Because of ill health, he declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1876.
While in congress, Bass made a name for himself while serving on the House Committee on Expenditures in the War Department. During his time on the committee, it looked into spending by Secretary of War William Worth Belknap. In addition, Bass served on the Committee on Railways and Canals as well as the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Affairs of the District of Columbia. On June 22, 1874, President Ulysses S. Grant nominated Bass to be Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. He was confirmed by the Senate, but declined the position.
After moving to Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1877, Bass was asked to be an associate counsel by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Co. Bass worked on a case against the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway regarding the right of way through the Arkansas Canon on the route from Denver to Leadville. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court and was won due to Bass' argument. He was then appointed chief counsel of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Co. and principal counsel of the Mexican National Railway.
Death
Bass died of consumption, in New York City's Buckingham Hotel on May 11, 1889 (age 52 years, 179 days). He is interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, New York.