James Meriwether

James Meriwether (* 1789 in Washington, Georgia, † 1854 in Memphis, Tennessee ) was an American politician. Between 1825 and 1827 he represented the state of Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

James Meriwether was the son of David Meriwether (1755-1822) and an uncle of James Archibald Meriwether (1806-1852), both of whom were also members of Congress of the State of Georgia. Neither the exact date of birth nor his death date are known. He attended the common schools and then studied until 1807 at the University of Georgia in Athens. Later he spent a year as a teacher himself at this university. After a subsequent study of law and qualifying as a lawyer, he began to work in his new profession for a short time. After that, he was engaged in farming. In 1813, Meriwether took part in a war against the Creek. Later he served as an American negotiator among the Cherokee. Between 1816 and 1831 Meriwether was curator of the University of Georgia.

Politically, he was a member of the Democratic- Republican Party. In the 1820s he joined the movement to the future President Andrew Jackson. From 1821 to 1823 he sat as an MP in the House of Representatives from Georgia. In the state- wide held congressional elections of 1824, he was for the seventh parliamentary mandate of Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC chosen, where he became the successor of Richard Henry Wilde on March 4, 1825. Since he resigned in 1826 to further candidacy, he was able to complete only one term in Congress until March 3, 1827. This was marked by fierce debate between supporters and opponents of Andrew Jackson.

After his retirement from the U.S. House of Representatives, James Meriwether again devoted his agricultural activities. He died in 1854 on a trip to the West in the vicinity of Memphis, and was buried in the family cemetery near Athens.