James L. Pugh

James L. Pugh

James Lawrence Pugh (born December 12, 1820 in Burke County , Georgia , †  March 9, 1907 in Washington DC ) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ). He represented the state of Alabama in both chambers of the US Congress and in the Confederate Congress .

Pugh was born in Georgia but moved to Alabama with his parents in 1824. He studied law , was admitted to the bar in 1841 and worked as a lawyer in Eufaula ; he was also active in agriculture.

As a member of the Democratic Party, James Pugh belonged to the Electoral College for the election of the US President in 1848 and 1856 . On March 4, 1859, he took office as a member of the US House of Representatives ; shortly before the end of the legislative period, he resigned his mandate on January 21, 1861.

During the American Civil War he served in the Confederate Army and held the rank of private with the Eufaula Rifles , the first Alabama regiment . Pugh was active as a politician during the Secession and was elected to the House of Representatives of the Confederate Congress in 1861 and 1863 .

After the war he worked as a lawyer again. It was not until 1875 that he returned to politics as a member of the Alabama Constitutional Convention; the following year he was a third-time elector in a US presidential election. When US Senator George S. Houston died on December 31, 1879, Pugh was his successor in Congress. He ended his term of office, which lasted until March 2, 1885, and was confirmed twice, so that he remained in the Senate until March 3, 1897. He did not apply for a fourth term. James Pugh settled in Washington, where he died in March 1907.

Web links

• James L. Pugh in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• The Political Graveyard