James Edwin BELSER, Congress, AL (1805-1859)

BELSER, James Edwin, a Representative from Alabama; born in Charleston, S.C., December 22, 1805; attended the public schools; in 1820 moved with his parents to Sumter District, S.C., where he continued his schooling under a private tutor; moved to Alabama in 1825 and settled in Montgomery; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Montgomery; elected clerk of the county court; member of the State house of representatives in 1828; edited the Planters Gazette for several years; appointed solicitor of Montgomery County in 1828 and later elected to that position; appointed by Governor Fitzpatrick in 1842 as a commissioner of the State to procure a settlement of the claims against the Federal Government for money advanced in the Indian War of 1836; elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1843-March 3, 1845); declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1844; resumed the practice of law in Montgomery; affiliated with the Whig Party in 1848; again elected a member of the State house of representatives in 1853 and reelected in 1857; died in Montgomery, Ala., January 16, 1859; interment in Oakwood Cemetery.

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