Alexander Hugh Holmes STUART, Congress, VA (1807-1891)

STUART, Alexander Hugh Holmes, (cousin of Archibald Stuart), a Representative from Virginia; born in Staunton, Va., April 2, 1807; attended Staunton Academy and the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va.; was graduated from the University of Virginia at Charlottesville in 1828; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1828 and commenced practice in Staunton; member of the State house of delegates 1836-1839; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1841-March 3, 1843); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1842 to the Twenty-eighth Congress; served as Secretary of the Interior in the Cabinet of President Fillmore from September 16, 1850, to March 6, 1853; member of the State senate 1857-1861; member of the State secession convention in 1861; delegate to the National Convention of Conservatives at Philadelphia in 1866; presented credentials as a Member-elect to the Thirty-ninth Congress in 1865 but was not admitted; chairman of the committee of nine, which was instrumental in restoring Virginia to the Union in 1870; member of the State house of delegates from 1874 to 1877; rector of the University of Virginia from 1874 to 1882; president of the Virginia Historical Society; resumed the practice of law; died in Staunton, Va., February 13, 1891; interment in Thornrose Cemetery.

Bibliography

Robertson, Alexander F. Alexander Hugh Holmes Stuart, 1807-1891: A Biography. Richmond: The William Byrd Press, 1925.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present