Edward James Gay (politician, 1816)

Edward James Gay

Edward James Gay (born February 3, 1816 in Liberty , Bedford County , Virginia , †  May 30, 1889 in Iberville Parish , Louisiana ) was an American politician . Between 1885 and 1889 he represented the state of Louisiana in the US House of Representatives .

Career

In 1820 Edward Gay moved with his parents first to Illinois and then in 1824 to St. Louis , Missouri . In Belleville, Illinois, he received private lessons for several years. In 1833 and 1834 he attended Augusta College in Kentucky . Between 1838 and 1860 he worked in St. Louis in trade. Before the outbreak of the civil war , he moved to Louisiana, where he was also active in trade, but also in agriculture. In 1861 he spoke out against the withdrawal of the state of Louisiana from the Union. After taking this step, however, he stood firmly behind the Confederation cause . In his new home he was named the first President of the New Orleans Sugar Exchange .

Politically, Gay became a member of the Democratic Party . In the congressional election of 1884 he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , in the third constituency of Louisiana , where he succeeded William P. Kellogg on March 4, 1885 . After two re-elections, he could remain in Congress until his death on May 30, 1889 . After that, his mandate fell to his son-in-law Andrew Price after a by-election .

Gay was the grandfather of the eponymous Edward James Gay (1878-1952), who sat for Louisiana in the US Senate between 1917 and 1921 .

Web links

• Edward James Gay in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Edward James Gay in the database of Find a Grave (English)