Early life Cattell was born in
Salem, New Jersey. He received an academic education, and engaged in mercantile pursuits in Salem until 1846.
Early career Cattell was elected to the
New Jersey General Assembly in 1840, and served as clerk from 1842 to 1844. He was a member of the State
constitutional convention in 1844 and moved to
Philadelphia in 1846, where he engaged in business and banking. He was a member of the
Philadelphia Common Council from 1848 to 1854, organized the
Corn Exchange Bank, and was its president from 1858 to 1871.
Congress In 1863, Cattell moved to
Merchantville, New Jersey in 1863 and was elected as a
Republican to the U.S. Senate to succeed
John P. Stockton, whose seat was declared vacant, and served from September 19, 1866, to March 3, 1871. He was not a candidate for reelection. While in the Senate, he was chairman of the
Joint Committee on the Library for the
Forty-first Congress.
Later life Cattell was appointed by President
Ulysses Grant to be a member of the first
United States Civil Service Commission and served two years, resigning to accept the position of United States financial agent in London, serving in 1873 and 1874. He was a member of New Jersey Board of Tax Assessors from 1884 to 1891, and was its president from 1889 to 1891. In 1891, he was appointed a member of the
State board of education for a term of three years. Cattell died in
Jamestown, New York in 1894 and was interred in
Colestown Cemetery in
Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He had five brothers and two sisters, his one brother,
William Cassady Cattell, served as the sixth president of
Lafayette College. ==See also==