John Kerr (politician)

John Kerr (born August 4, 1782 in Yanceyville , Caswell County , North Carolina , †  September 29, 1842 in Danville , Virginia ) was an American politician . Between 1813 and 1817 he represented the state of Virginia twice in the US House of Representatives .

Career

John Kerr came from a well-known family of politicians. He was the father of the congressman of the same name John Kerr (1811-1879) and a cousin of Bartlett Yancey (1785-1828), who represented the state of North Carolina in the US House of Representatives. He was also the great-uncle of Congressman John H. Kerr (1873-1958), who also sat for North Carolina in Congress . Kerr attended public schools in his home country. After studying theology and being ordained a clergyman of the Baptist Church in 1802, he began to work in this profession. From 1805 he was resident in Halifax County . At the same time he embarked on a political career as a member of the Democratic Republican Party .

In the 1812 congressional election , Kerr was elected to the 15th  constituency of Virginia in the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , where he succeeded John Randolph on March 4, 1813 . Since he lost to Matthew Clay in the election of 1814 , he was only able to complete one term in Congress until March 3, 1815 . This was shaped by the events of the British-American War . After Clay's death, Kerr was re-elected to Congress when the by-election was due, where he resumed his previous mandate on October 30, 1815. He was able to end the current legislative period there by March 3, 1817.

In 1816, Kerr declined to run again. In the following years until 1832 he was active as a clergyman in various cities in Virginia. After that, he retired. From 1836 he lived on a farm near Danville, where he died on September 29, 1842.

Web links

• John Kerr in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• John Kerr in the database of Find a Grave (English)