John KERR, Congress, VA (1782-1842)

KERR, John, (father of John Kerr, Jr., cousin of Bartlett Yancey, and granduncle of John Hosea Kerr), a Representative from Virginia; born near Yanceyville, Caswell County, N.C., August 4, 1782; attended the common schools; studied theology; was licensed as a Baptist minister in 1802; located in Halifax County, Va., in 1805; elected as a Republican to the Thirteenth Congress (March 4, 1813-March 3, 1815); unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Fourteenth Congress but was subsequently elected to fill the vacancy in the Fourteenth Congress caused by the death of Matthew Clay and served from October 30, 1815, to March 3, 1817; was not a candidate for renomination in 1816; resumed the ministry and was pastor of the Baptist churches of Arbor and Mary Creek, Va.; moved to Richmond, Va., in March 1825 and was pastor of the First Baptist Church; resigned in 1832; settled upon a farm near Danville, Pittsylvania County, Va., in 1836 and died there September 29, 1842; interment in Baptist Cemetery, Yanceyville, Caswell County, N.C.

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