Meredith Poindexter Gentry

Meredith Poindexter Gentry

Meredith Poindexter Gentry (born September 15, 1809 in Rockingham County , North Carolina , †  November 2, 1866 in Nashville , Tennessee ) was an American politician . Between 1839 and 1853 he represented the state of Tennessee twice in the US House of Representatives .

Career

In 1813, Meredith Gentry moved with his parents to Williamson County , Tennessee, where he attended public schools. After a subsequent law degree and his admission as a lawyer, he began to work in Franklin in his new profession. At the same time he embarked on a political career as a member of the Whig Party . Between 1835 and 1839 he was a member of the House of Representatives from Tennessee .

In the congressional elections of 1838 he was elected in the eighth constituency of his state in the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , where he succeeded Abram Poindexter Maury on March 4, 1839 . After re-election, he was able to complete two legislative terms in Congress until March 3, 1839 . These were shaped by the discussions and quarrels between his party and President John Tyler , who had been in office since 1841 . After the death of his wife in 1842, Gentry renounced another candidacy. Two years later he was re-elected to Congress as a Whig in the Seventh District of Tennessee. After three re-elections, he was able to complete four further legislative terms there by March 3, 1853. Until 1848 these were determined by the events of the Mexican-American War . Between 1847 and 1849 Gentry was chairman of the Indian committee.

In 1852 he renounced another congressional candidacy. In 1855 he ran unsuccessfully against the future President Andrew Johnson for the office of governor of Tennessee. He then retired to his plantation in Tennessee until 1861. In 1862 and 1863 he was a member of the House of Representatives of the Confederate Congress . To what extent he participated in its meetings is controversial in the sources. In 1864 he was imprisoned by Union forces. He was released early from custody by President Abraham Lincoln on account of illness. Meredith Gentry died on November 2, 1866 in Nashville, where he was also buried.

Web links

• Meredith Poindexter Gentry in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Meredith Poindexter Gentry in the database of Find a Grave (English)