Richard Menefee

Richard Menefee

Richard Hickman Menefee (born December 4, 1809 in Owingsville , Bath County , Kentucky , †  February 21, 1841 in Frankfort , Kentucky) was an American politician . Between 1837 and 1839 he represented the state of Kentucky in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Richard Menefee attended public schools in his home country and then studied at Transylvania University in Lexington . He then worked as a teacher for a few years. After a subsequent law degree and his admission as a lawyer in 1830, he began to work in Mount Sterling in this profession. In 1832 he served as a public prosecutor. Politically, Menefee was a member of the Whig Party . Between 1836 and 1837 he was a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives . There he was a member of the tax committee.

In the congressional elections of 1836 he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the eleventh constituency of Kentucky , where he succeeded Richard French on March 4, 1837 . Until March 3, 1839, he had only one term in Congress . In 1838 he was together with John J. Crittenden second of the MP William J. Graves , who shot his colleague Jonathan Cilley from Maine in a duel . Because of his active participation in this event, he lost his reputation. As a result, a law was passed that banned duels in the area of ​​the federal capital. In this context, Richard Menefee gave his longest speech, which he divided into three days. He commented on this law.

After leaving the US House of Representatives, Menefee returned to practice as a lawyer. In 1841 he was to succeed John Crittenden in the US Senate . But he died before he was supposed to take office. Richard Menefee had been married to Sarah Bell Jouett since 1832, with whom he had three children.

According to him, Menifee County named in Kentucky.

Web links

Commons : Richard Menefee  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Richard Menefee in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Richard Menefee in the database of Find a Grave (English)