Abraham RENCHER, Congress, NC (1798-1883)
RENCHER, Abraham, a Representative from North Carolina; born near Raleigh, Wake County, N.C., August 12, 1798; tutored at home and attended the common schools and Pittsboro (N.C.) Academy; was graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1822; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1825 and commenced practice in Pittsboro, Chatham County, N.C.; elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Congresses, reelected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses, and elected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1829-March 3, 1839); declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1838; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1841-March 3, 1843); declined to be candidate for renomination in 1842 on account of ill health; Minister to Portugal 1843-1847; appointed governor of New Mexico by President Buchanan and served from 1857 to 1861; retired to his home in Pittsboro, N.C.; died in Chapel Hill, N.C., on July 6, 1883; interment in St. Bartholomewâs Protestant Episcopal Churchyard, Pittsboro, N.C.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
