Henry Thomas ELLETT, Congress, MS (1812-1887)

ELLETT, Henry Thomas, a Representative from Mississippi; born in Salem, N.J., March 8, 1812; attended the Latin School in Salem and Princeton College; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1833 and commenced practice in Bridgeton, Cumberland County, N.J.; moved to Port Gibson, Claiborne County, Miss., in 1837 and continued the practice of law; elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-ninth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Jefferson Davis and served from January 26 to March 3, 1847; declined to be a candidate for reelection in 1846; resumed the practice of law; member of the State senate 1853-1865; member of the State secession convention in 1861, and member of the committee that framed and reported the ordinance of secession of Mississippi; appointed Postmaster General of the Confederacy in February 1861 but declined; elected judge of the State supreme court on October 2, 1865, and served until January 1868, when he resigned; moved to Memphis, Tenn., in 1868 and resumed the practice of law; elected chancellor of the twelfth division of Tennessee in 1886; died while delivering an address of welcome to President Grover Cleveland in Memphis, Tenn., October 15, 1887; interment in Elmwood Cemetery.

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