Mark L. De Motte

Born in Rockville, Indiana, De Motte pursued preparatory studies. He was graduated from the literary department of Indiana Asbury (now De Pauw) University, Greencastle, Indiana, in 1853 and from the law department of the same university in 1855. He was admitted to the bar and began practice in Valparaiso in 1855. De Motte was elected prosecuting attorney of the sixty-seventh judicial district in 1856.

He served in the Union Army with the rank of first lieutenant in 1861. He was promoted to captain in 1862. At the close of the war he moved to Lexington, Missouri, and resumed the practice of law. He was editor and proprietor of the Lexington Register. He was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for election to Congress in 1872 and 1876. He served as delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1876. He returned to Valparaiso, Indiana, in 1877 and resumed the practice of law. He organized the Northern Indiana Law School (later Valparaiso University School of Law) in 1879.

De Motte was elected as a Republican to the Forty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1883). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1882 to the Forty-eighth Congress. He served as member of the State senate 1886–1890. He was appointed postmaster of Valparaiso March 24, 1890, and served until March 20, 1894. He was dean of the Northern Indiana Law School 1890–1908.

He died in Valparaiso, Indiana, September 23, 1908, and was interred in Maplewood Cemetery.

• United States Congress. "Mark L. De Motte (id: D000224)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2009-05-13

• "Mark L. De Motte". Find a Grave. Retrieved May 13, 2009.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov.