Walter Hampden Overton

Walter Hampden Overton (* 1788 at Louisa Court House , Louisa County , Virginia , † December 24, 1845 at Alexandria , Louisiana ) was an American politician . Between 1829 and 1831 he represented the state of Louisiana in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Walter Overton was the son of Thomas Overton, a general in the Revolutionary War and confidante of the future President Andrew Jackson . In his childhood he moved with his father to North Carolina and then in 1801 to Tennessee , where he attended public schools. In 1808 he joined the US Army . There he rose to Brevet Lieutenant Colonel until he left on October 31, 1815 . During his military service, he took part in the British-American War of 1812 . In early 1815 he was at the Battle of New Orleanswith it. After serving in the military, he was named major general in the Louisiana Militia. He settled near Alexandria, where he ran the "Soldiers Rest" plantation; his father ran a plantation of the same name in Tennessee. In his new home at Rapides Parish , Overton served on the Courthouse Construction Committee in 1820 and 1821. In 1824 he was a member of another committee that dealt with shipping in his home country.

Politically, he joined Andrew Jackson, who had been his commander at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Overton became a member of the Democratic Party founded by Jackson in 1828 . In the congressional elections of 1828 he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the third constituency of Louisiana , where he succeeded William Leigh Brent on March 4, 1829 . Since he refused to run again in 1830, he was only able to complete one legislative period in Congress until March 3, 1831 . This was overshadowed by discussions about President Jackson's policies. It was about the controversial enforcement of the Indian Removal Act and the conflict with South Carolina , which later culminated in the nullification crisis .

After the end of his time in the US House of Representatives, Walter Overtoin withdrew from politics. He returned to his plantation, which he continued to cultivate in the following years, and died on December 24, 1845. He was the uncle of Governor Thomas Overton Moore .

Web links

• Walter Hampden Overton in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Walter Hampden Overton in the database of Find a Grave (English)