Albert Rust (politician)

Albert Rust

Albert Rust (* 1818 in Fauquier County , Virginia , † April 3, 1870 in El Dorado , Arkansas ) was an American politician . Between 1855 and 1857 and between 1859 and 1861 he represented the second constituency of the state of Arkansas in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Albert Rust attended his homeland public schools and moved from Virginia to Union County , Arkansas , in 1837 . There he bought land and ran a small shop that was later used as the local courthouse. Since 1838 he was also involved in land surveying in his district. After studying law, Rust began to practice his new profession in El Dorado.

Rust became a member of the Democratic Party . Between 1842 and 1848 and again from 1852 to 1854 he was a member of the House of Representatives from Arkansas , where he temporarily acted as speaker . In 1846 he applied for the first time within his party for the nomination for a seat in Congress . However, this attempt was unsuccessful.

In 1854 Rust was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington in the second district of Arkansas , where he succeeded Edward A. Warren on March 4, 1855 . Since he was no longer nominated for re-election by his party in the next election, he had to give up his mandate on March 3, 1857, which fell back to Warren. Two years later, however, he made the leap into the US House of Representatives again. Between March 4, 1859 and March 3, 1861, he was the last member of his district in Congress before the American Civil War . During these two years he was interested in military issues and the development of the Red River to a waterway. After the state of Arkansas joined the Confederate States , it was no longer represented in the US Congress between 1861 and 1868.

After the end of his time in Congress, Rust was appointed as a delegate to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States. In the regular elections for the first congress of the southern states , however, he decided not to run. Instead, he became an officer in the Confederate Army . He participated in several battles and rose to the rank of brigadier general . After the war he resumed his legal practice.

Albert Rust died in El Dorado in April 1870. He had been married to Jane Carrington, daughter of a wealthy Virginian, since 1844.

Web links

• Albert Rust in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Albert Rust in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture