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John Pendleton

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John Pendleton
Member of theVirginia House of Delegates
from the Culpeper district
In office
December 5, 1831 – December 1, 1833
Preceded byJonathan C. Gibson, Sr.
Succeeded byJohn S. Barbour
Member of theVirginia House of Delegates
from the Rappahannnock district
In office
December 5, 1836 – December 1, 1839
Preceded byJoseph Nicklin
Succeeded byWilliam Walden
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives
fromVirginia's9thdistrict
In office
March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1849
Preceded bySamuel Chilton
Succeeded byJeremiah Morton
Personal details
Born(1813-03-29)March 29, 1813
Culpeper, Virginia,US
DiedNovember 19, 1868(1868-11-19)(aged 66)
Culpeper, Virginia,US
Political partyWhig
SpouseLucy Ann Williams
Professionpolitician, lawyer, diplomat, farmer

John Strother Pendleton(March 1, 1802 – November 19, 1868), nicknamed"The Lone Star",was a nineteenth-century congressman, diplomat, lawyer and farmer fromVirginia.[1]

Early and family life

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Born nearCulpeper, Virginia,Pendleton studied with private tutors and at Cloverdale Academy,[2]then read law. He married Lucy Ann Williams, the daughter of James and Elizabeth Bruce Williams, on December 2, 1824, at "Soldiers Rest" inOrange County, Virginia.During the 1820s, he resided at theSlaughter-Hill House,listed on theNational Register of Historic Placesin 1989.[3][4]The two had nobiologicalchildren, but adopted Lucy's brother Philip's son, George Morton Williams, when he was three years old.

Career

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After admission to the Virginia bar in 1824, Pendleton began his legal practice inCulpeper County, Virginia.Culpeper's voters elected Pendleton as their representative to theVirginia House of Delegatesfrom 1831 to 1833, and not long afterRappahannock County, Virginiawas created from part of Culpeper County, Rappahannock County voters selected him to represent them from 1836 to 1839.[5]

PresidentJohn Tyler,a fellow Whig from Virginia, appointed PendletonChargé d'Affaires to Chilein 1841, and he served until 1844 when he was elected aWhigto theUnited States House of Representatives.He was re-elected once, and served from 1845 to 1849. In the House, Pendleton obtained the nickname "The Lone Star" because he was the only Whig fromVirginia.

Pendleton returned to his diplomatic career, as PresidentMillard Fillmoreappointed himChargé d'Affaires to the Argentine Confederationin 1851. He served until 1854 and in 1852 also served asMinister to BrazilwithRobert C. Schenckto negotiate atreatyof commerce withParaguayandUruguay.

Pendleton returned to the United States and engaged in farming, but his estate was devastated by theAmerican Civil War,particularly theBattle of Cedar Mountain,such that he appeared before General Banks for permission to leave the county.[6]However, by March 1863, he was able to extend hospitality to Confederate officers at his estate, "Redwood", after a St. Patrick's Day Party, although several would die in battles the following days including at Kelly's Ford.[7]

Death

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Pendleton survived the war and died on November 19, 1868, nearCulpeper, Virginia.

References

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  1. ^
    • United States Congress."John Pendleton (id: P000206)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
  2. ^Eugene M. Scheel, Culpeper: A Virginia County's History through 1920 (Culpeper, The Culpeper Historical Society 1982), p. 70
  3. ^Ann L. Miller (April 1988)."National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Slaughter-Hill House"(PDF).Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission.andAccompanying photo
  4. ^"National Register Information System".National Register of Historic Places.National Park Service.March 13, 2009.
  5. ^Cynthia Miller Leonard, Virginia's General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond, Virginia State Library 1978) pp. 359, 363, 381, 386, 390
  6. ^Scheel, p. 190
  7. ^Scheel, p. 194

Public DomainThis article incorporatespublic domain materialfrom theBiographical Directory of the United States Congress

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of theU.S. House of Representatives
fromVirginia's 9th congressional district

March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1849
Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Chile
August 16, 1841 – June 6, 1844
Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Chargé d'Affaires, Argentina
February 27, 1851 – March 31, 1854
Succeeded by