Ira Allen Eastman (1809 - 1881)
Born at Gilmanton (NH); died at Manchester (NH).
Lawyer, state and national legislator, jurist.
Portrait by U.D. Tenney, 1883
Presented to the State 1883.

Ira Eastman was educated at Gilmanton town schools and graduated from Dartmouth College (Class of 1829). He studied law, was admitted to the New Hampshire Bar (1832), and began law practice at Troy (NH). He came back to Gilmanton in 1834, sought and got the position of Clerk to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1835. He was elected to the State House of Representatives (1836, 1837, and 1838; Speaker of the House 1837/8).

Eastman also served as Register of Probate (1836/9). He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1838 (served March 1839/43). He was not a candidate for reelection in 1842.

Returning to New Hampshire, Eastman served as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas (1844/9), and Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court (1849/59). He resigned in 1859. He was an unsuccessful (Democratic) candidate for governor (1863) and the United States Senate (1866), then practiced law at Manchester until his death in 1881.

References: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 - 1989 (1989); Who Was Who, 1607 - 1896 (1963); Council Records Index, 1833 - 1872, vol. 2, p. 469.