Elisha Edward Meredith (December 26, 1848 – July 29, 1900) was a U.S. Representative from Virginia.

Elisha E. Meredith
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 8th district
In office
December 9, 1891 – March 3, 1897
Preceded byWilliam H. F. Lee
Succeeded byJohn F. Rixey
Member of the Virginia Senate
from the 14th district
In office
December 5, 1883 – December 7, 1887
Preceded byFrancis L. Smith
Succeeded byR. Walton Moore
Personal details
Born
Elisha Edward Meredith

(1848-12-26)December 26, 1848
Sumter, Alabama, U.S.
DiedJuly 29, 1900(1900-07-29) (aged 51)
Manassas, Virginia, U.S.
Resting placeManassas Cemetery
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materHampden–Sydney College
Professionlawyer

Biography

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Born in Sumter County, Alabama, Meredith attended Hampden–Sydney College, Virginia. He studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1869 and commenced practice in Prince William County. He served as prosecuting attorney for Prince William County 1876-1883. He served as member of the Senate of Virginia in 1883–1887.

In 1891 E. E. Meredith and Robert R. Campbell were the court appointed attorneys for Joseph Dye and Lee R. Heflin, white farm workers, who were tried for the murder of a white Fauquier County, Virginia, family (a widow and her three young children) during a robbery. The killers attempted to cover up their crime by burning the house. After the two killers were convicted and sentenced to death they were taken from sheriff’s deputies transporting them to another jail and lynched in Prince William County, Virginia.[1]

Meredith was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-second Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William H.F. Lee. He was reelected to the Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth Congresses and served from December 9, 1891, to March 3, 1897. He resumed the practice of his profession. He died in Manassas, Virginia, on July 29, 1900. He was interred in Manassas Cemetery.

References

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  1. ^ "The forgotten lynchings of 1892". fauquier.com. 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2020-12-14.

Sources

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U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 8th congressional district

1891–1897
Succeeded by

  This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress