Emerson Etheridge

Emerson Etheridge

Emerson Etheridge (born September 28, 1819 in Currituck County , North Carolina , †  October 21, 1902 in Dresden , Tennessee ) was an American politician . Between 1853 and 1857 and again from 1859 to 1861 he represented the state of Tennessee in the US House of Representatives .

Career

In 1831, Emerson Etheridge came to Tennessee with his parents, where he attended public schools. After completing a law degree and being admitted to the bar in 1840, he began to work in his new profession in Dresden. At the same time he embarked on a political career as a member of the Whig Party . Between 1845 and 1847 he was a member of the House of Representatives from Tennessee .

In the congressional election of 1852 Etheridge was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the ninth constituency of Tennessee , where he succeeded Isham G. Harris on March 4, 1853 . After a re-election, he was able to complete two legislative terms in Congress until March 3, 1857 . These were determined by the events and discussions leading up to the civil war . Since 1855, Etheridge represented the short-lived American Party in Congress. In 1856 he was defeated by the Democrat John DeWitt Clinton Atkins .

In the elections of 1858 Etheridge was re-elected as a candidate for the opposition party in the ninth district of his state in Congress, where he replaced Atkins on March 4, 1859 again. Until March 3, 1861, he was able to spend another legislative period in the US House of Representatives, which was marked by the imminent civil war. During this time Etheridge was chairman of the Indian committee. He was an opponent of secession and a loyal supporter of the Union. Between 1861 and 1863 he was Clerk of the House of Representatives in the Congress Administration. In 1867 he ran unsuccessfully for governor of Tennessee: he was clearly defeated by Republican incumbent William Gannaway Brownlow with 23:77 percent of the vote. He then sat in the Tennessee Senate in 1869 and 1870 . Etheridge held his last public office between 1891 and 1894 as Head of Customs in Memphis . He died in Dresden on October 21, 1902.

Web links

• Emerson Etheridge in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Emerson Etheridge in the database of Find a Grave (English)