James Meacham

James Meacham ( born August 16, 1810 in Rutland, Rutland County, Vermont; † August 23, 1856 ) was an American politician. Between 1849 and 1853 he represented the third and 1853-1856 the first electoral district of the state of Vermont in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

James Meacham attended until 1832 Middlebury College and was then himself worked as a teacher in Castleton and St. Albans. He then studied theology. In 1838 he was ordained as pastor of the Congregational Church. Between 1839 and 1846 he worked in this occupation in New Haven, Vermont. From 1846 to 1850 he was a teacher at Middlebury College.

Politically, Meacham member of the Whig party. Following the resignation of Congressman George Perkins Marsh he was in the due -elections as his successor in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC selected. After a re-election he was able to represent the third district of his home state between December 3, 1849, March 3, 1853. In the elections of 1852 and 1854, he was elected in the first district of Vermont in Congress. Meacham remained until his death on August 23, 1856 Congressman. The following by-election was won by Republican George Tisdale Hodges.

Meacham's time in Congress was overshadowed by the heated discussions in the run-up to the Civil War. Since 1855 he was Chairman of the Committee for the administration of the Federal District ( District of Columbia). James Meacham was buried in Middlebury.