John Vines WRIGHT, Congress, TN (1828-1908)

WRIGHT, John Vines, a Representative from Tennessee; born in Purdy, McNairy County, Tenn., June 28, 1828; completed preparatory studies; attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where he pursued courses in medicine and law, graduating from the law department; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Purdy, Tenn.; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fourth, Thirty-fifth, and Thirty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1855-March 3, 1861); during the Civil War served in the Confederate Army as colonel of the Thirteenth Regiment, Tennessee Infantry, in 1861; elected to the First and Second Confederate Congresses; judge of the circuit court of Tennessee; chancellor and judge of the State supreme court; practiced law in Nashville, Tenn., 1865-1886; unsuccessful candidate as an Anti-Repudiation Democrat for Governor of Tennessee in 1880; was chairman of the Northwest Indian Commission in 1886 and member of the commission to treat with the Great Sioux Nation in Dakota; appointed to the law division of the General Land Office in 1887 and served until his death in Washington, D.C., June 11, 1908; interment in Rock Creek Cemetery.

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