Frederick Taylor Pusey

Frederick Taylor Pusey (June 3, 1872–September 6, 1936) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for Delaware County from 1903 to 1906.

Early life and educaction[]

Pusey was born in Philadelphia on June 3, 1872. His primary education was in the public schools in Avondale, Pennsylvania.^[1] He graduated from Friends Central High School in 1899.^[2]

Military career[]

He served in the Pennsylvania National Guard from 1892 to 1918. He was a member of the First Regiment from 1892 to 1906 and served in the Spanish–American War. He served as aide-de-camp to Governor Edwin Sydney Stuart from 1907 to 1912 and to Governor John K. Tener in 1913. He served with the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I from 1917 to 1918.^[2]

Civilian career[]

He worked as an assistant manager in a hosiery mill for two years, and later worked as an industrial life insurance collector. He was a lawyer and solicitor for the borough of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania (1899–1900) and served as president of the Law Academy of Philadelphia.

Political career[]

He served two terms in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1903–04 and 1905–06) representing Delaware County as a Republican. He did not run for re-election in 1906.^[2]

In 1903 he introduced an "anti-cartoon" bill in the legislature. The bill would have made it illegal for publishers to print cartoons depicting politicians as animals. It was inspired by a series of cartoons depicting the 1902 candidate for governor, Samuel Pennypacker, as a parrot.^[3] The bill did not become law, but it inspired a whole new series of cartoons depicting politicians as vegetables and inanimate objects.

Personal life[]

In 1895, Pusey married Nellie Oglivie and together they had one child.^[1]

He died September 6, 1936 in Philadelphia, and is buried in Cumberland Cemetery in Media, Pennsylvania.

References[]