Powhatan Ellis

Powhatan Ellis

Powhatan Ellis (born January 17, 1790 in Amherst County , Virginia , † March 18, 1863 in Richmond , Virginia) was an American politician . In the years 1825 and 1826 and between 1827 and 1832 he represented the state of Mississippi in the US Senate .

Career

Powhatan Ellis was born on the Red Hill Estate, Virginia. In 1809 he graduated from the Washington Academy , today's Washington and Lee University in Lexington . He was then enrolled at Dickinson College in Carlisle , Pennsylvania until 1810 . After a subsequent law degree at the College of William & Mary and his admission as a lawyer in 1814, he began to work in Lynchburg in his new profession. In 1816 he moved to Natchez , Mississippi, where he continued to practice as a lawyer. Between 1823 and 1825 he was a judge on the Mississippi State Supreme Court . Politically, he was a member of the Democratic Republican Party . In 1829 he joined the Democratic Party founded by President Andrew Jackson .

After the resignation of US Senator David Holmes , Ellis was appointed as his acting successor in the US Congress. He held this office between September 28, 1825 and January 28, 1826. On this day, Thomas Buck Reed , who was elected in a by-election, took up his mandate. At the next regular election for the Class 1 category Senators, to which this seat belonged, Reed was defeated by Ellis, who returned to the Senate on March 4, 1827. There he remained until his resignation on July 16, 1832. This step took place after his appointment as federal judge for the area of ​​the state of Mississippi. He held this office between 1832 and 1836. Between January and December 1836 and from 1839 to 1842 he was the American envoy to Mexico . He then practiced again as a lawyer in Natchez. He later moved to Richmond, Virginia, where he died on March 18, 1863.

Web links

• Powhatan Ellis in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)