James MEACHAM, Congress, VT (1810-1856)

MEACHAM, James, a Representative from Vermont; born in Rutland, Rutland County, Vt., August 16, 1810; was graduated from Middlebury (Vt.) College in 1832; taught in the seminary at Castleton, Vt., and in the local academy at St. Albans, Vt.; attended Andover (Vt.) Theological Seminary, where he studied for the ministry and was ordained as a Congregational minister in 1838, assuming his duties as pastor in New Haven, Vt., and served from 1839 to 1846; tutor and professor at Middlebury College 1846-1850; elected as a Whig to the Thirty-first Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of George P. Marsh; reelected as a Whig to the Thirty-second and Thirty-third Congresses, and elected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress and served from December 3, 1849, until his death in Rutland, Vt., August 23, 1856; chairman, Committee on District of Columbia (Thirty-fourth Congress); interment in West Cemetery, Middlebury, Vt.

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