Rufus Palen (February 25, 1807 – April 26, 1844) was an Americanmanufacturer andpolitician in the U.S. state ofNew York. He represented New York in theUnited States House of Representatives.

Palen was born inPalenville, New York and moved with his family as a child toFallsburg.^[1] He received limited schooling and became engaged in the tanning and manufacture of leather as head of Rufus Palen & Co., and a partner in Knapp & Palen, Palen & Flagler, and other companies. In addition, he was a partner in a general store under the company name Palen Foster & Co., and was active in other business ventures.

He held several political offices in New York, including postmaster ofPalenville, and town board member, school supervisor, and district highway overseer for Fallsburg. He was elected as aWhig to theTwenty-sixth Congress, serving from March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1841.^[2]

Palen contracted tuberculosis during his term in Congress, and spent much of his time afterwards traveling outside the United States in an effort to improve his health. He died in New York City on April 26, 1844.^[3] He is interred in the Old Cemetery inPalenville, New York.

• United States Congress."Rufus Palen (id: P000032)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

 This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.

• 1807 births
• 1844 deaths
• People from Fallsburg, New York
• People from Catskill, New York
• New York (state) postmasters
• School board members in New York (state)
• Town supervisors in New York (state)
• Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)
• 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

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• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress