The Political Graveyard: Garnett family of Virginia

Garnett family of Virginia

Note: This is just one of 643 family groupings listed on The Political Graveyard web site. These families each have three or more politician members, all linked together by blood, marriage or adoption.

Some families traditionally (and perhaps properly) considered separately are joined together here if linked by marriage or otherwise. These groupings — even the names of the groupings, and the state or lists of states of main activity — are the result of a computer algorithm, not the choices of any historian or genealogist.

James Mercer Garnett (1770-1843) — also known as James M. Garnett — of Loretto, Essex County, Va. Born in Virginia, 1770. Brother of Robert Selden Garnett; grandfather of Muscoe Russell Hunter Garnett. Democrat. Member of Virginia state legislature; U.S. Representative from Virginia, 1805-09 (at-large 1805-07, 11th District 1807-09). Died in 1843. Interment in private or family graveyard.
- See also: congressional biography.
Charles Fenton Mercer (1778-1858) — of Virginia. Born in Virginia, 1778. Cousin of Robert Selden Garnett. Democrat. Member of Virginia state legislature; U.S. Representative from Virginia, 1817-39 (8th District 1817-21, 14th District 1821-25, 19th District 1825-27, 14th District 1827-35, 15th District 1835-37, 13th District 1837-39, 16th District 1839). Died in 1858. Interment at Union Cemetery, Leesburg, Va.
- See also: congressional biography.
Robert Selden Garnett (1789-1840) — of Virginia. Born in Virginia, 1789. Brother of James Mercer Garnett; cousin of Charles Fenton Mercer. Democrat. Member of Virginia state legislature; U.S. Representative from Virginia 12th District, 1817-27. Died in 1840. Interment at a private or family graveyard, Essex County, Va.
- See also: congressional biography.
Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter (1809-1887) — also known as Robert M. T. Hunter — of Virginia. Born near Loretto, Essex County, Va., April 21, 1809. Uncle of Muscoe Russell Hunter Garnett. Democrat. Lawyer; member of Virginia state house of delegates, 1834-35; member of Virginia state senate, 1835-37; U.S. Representative from Virginia, 1837-43, 1845-47 (8th District 1837-39, 12th District 1839-41, 9th District 1841-43, 8th District 1845-47); Speaker of the U.S. House, 1839-41; U.S. Senator from Virginia, 1847-61; candidate for Democratic nomination for President, 1860; Delegate from Virginia to the Confederate Provisional Congress, 1861-62; Confederate Secretary of State, 1861-62; Senator from Virginia in the Confederate Congress, 1862-65; delegate to Virginia state constitutional convention, 1867-68; Virginia state treasurer, 1874-80. When the Civil War began, he left Washington but did not resign his seat in the Senate; he was one of ten Southern senators expelled in absentia on July 11, 1861. His portrait appeared on Confederate States $10 notes in 1861-64. Arrested in 1865 and imprisoned without trial by federal forces in Fort Pulaski, Tennessee, until 1866. Died in Essex County, Va., July 18, 1887. Interment at a private or family graveyard, Essex County, Va.
- See also: congressional biography; Wikipedia article.
Muscoe Russell Hunter Garnett (1821-1864) — of Virginia. Born in Essex County, Va., July 25, 1821. Grandson of James Mercer Garnett; nephew of Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter. Democrat. Delegate to Virginia state constitutional convention, 1850-51; member of Virginia state house of delegates, 1853-57; U.S. Representative from Virginia 1st District, 1856-61; Representative from Virginia in the Confederate Congress, 1862-64; died in office 1864. Contracted typhoid fever while attending the Confederate Congress, in the Virginia State Capitol, Richmond, Va., and died at his home in Essex County, Va., February 14, 1864. Interment at a private or family graveyard, Essex County, Va.
- See also: congressional biography.

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