William J. Graves

William Jordan Graves (* 1805 in New Castle , Henry County , Kentucky , †  September 27, 1848 in Louisville , Kentucky) was an American politician . Between 1835 and 1841 he represented the state of Kentucky in the US House of Representatives .

Career

William Graves received a good primary education. After studying law and being admitted to the bar, he began to work in this profession. At the same time he embarked on a political career. Graves was in opposition to the Democratic Party of incumbent President Andrew Jackson and became a member of the Whig Party in 1835 . In 1834 he became a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives .

In the 1834 congressional election , Graves was elected to the United States House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the eighth constituency of Kentucky , where he succeeded the Democrat Patrick H. Pope , whom he had previously defeated, on March 4, 1835 . After two re-elections, he was able to complete three legislative terms in Congress by March 3, 1841 . Until the end of Andrew Jackson's presidency, these were determined by the dispute over his policy. In those years it was mainly about banking policy.

On February 24, 1838, there was a gun duel between William Graves and Congressman Jonathan Cilley from Maine . Cilley was killed in the process. Graves was reprimanded, but not excluded, in Congress for participating in the duel. The duel led to a law passed in February 1839, according to which it was forbidden to fight duels in the federal district around the capital Washington. In 1840, William Graves declined to run for the US House of Representatives again. In 1843 he was re-elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives. He died in Louisville on September 27, 1848.

Web links

• William J. Graves in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• William J. Graves in the database of Find a Grave (English)