Joseph McDowell (politician, 1758)

Joseph McDowell (born February 25, 1758 in Morganton , Province of North Carolina , †  March 7, 1799 ibid) was an American politician . Between 1793 and 1795 he represented the state of North Carolina in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Joseph McDowell was a cousin of the eponymous Congressman Joseph McDowell (1756-1801). Since the biographies of the two relatives of the same name are very similar, there was often confusion between them. To distinguish the older Joseph McDowell is given the nickname "Pleasant Gardens" in the literature, while his cousin went down in history as Joseph "Quaker Meadows" McDowell.

McDowell attended the public schools in Winchester ( Virginia ). During the War of Independence he was a major in the Continental Army and a general in the militia. After studying law and being admitted to the bar in 1791, he began to work in his new profession. Politically, he had been active since the mid-1780s. Between 1785 and 1792 he was a member of the House of Representatives from North Carolina . He was a political opponent of the federal government in office since 1789 under President George Washington ( anti-administration ).

In the congressional election of 1792 McDowell was elected to the US House of Representatives in the third constituency of North Carolina, where he succeeded Hugh Williamson on March 4, 1793 . Since he refused a new nomination in 1794, he could only complete one legislative period in Congress until March 3, 1795 . After leaving the US House of Representatives, McDowell practiced law again. He also worked in agriculture. In 1796 he was a member of a commission that established the border between the states of North Carolina and Tennessee . He died on March 7, 1799 on his property "Pleasant Gardens" in what is now McDowell County, which is named after him .

Web links

• Joseph McDowell (politicians, 1758) in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)