Joseph Edwin Washington (November 10, 1851 – August 28, 1915) was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for the 6th congressional district of Tennessee.

Early life

Washington was born on November 10, 1851 on his family tobacco plantation, Wessyngton, near

Cedar Hill, Tennessee Cedar Hill is a city in Robertson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 301 at the 2020 census. History Jo Byrns, who became Speaker of the House of Representatives, was born in Cedar Hill on July 28, 1869. The local elementar ...

in Robertson County. His father,

George Augustine Washington Colonel George Augustine Washington (1815 – December 4, 1892) was an American tobacco planter, slaveholder, company director and politician. He was "one of the world's largest tobacco growers" by 1860, and served in the Tennessee General Ass ...

, was a planter and major slaveholder, a director of the

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of the ...

and the

Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, and a member of the

Tennessee General Assembly The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Speaker of the Senate carries the additional title ...

from 1873 to 1875. Washington received his early instruction at home and graduated from Georgetown College in Washington, D.C. on June 26, 1873. He studied law with the first law class organized at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee in 1874. He was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

, but never practiced. He took over management of Wessyngton Plantation and entered politics.

Career

From 1877 to 1879 Washington was a member of the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

. In 1886 he was elected as a Democrat to the Fiftieth United States Congress, and was re-elected to the four succeeding Congresses. He served from March 4, 1887 to March 3, 1897, but he was not a candidate for renomination in 1896. He was the chairman of the United States House Committee on Territories during the

Fifty-second Congress The 52nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1891, ...

. Appointed road commissioner, Washington had charge of the road construction work of Robertson County. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of Vanderbilt University and a director of the Nashville,

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

& St. Louis and Nashville & Decatur Railroads. He resumed agricultural pursuits, managing the family's tobacco plantation, Wessyngton, in

Robertson County, Tennessee Robertson County is a County (United States), county located on the central northern border of Tennessee in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 72,803 people. Its county seat is Springfield, Tennessee, Spri ...

Personal life and death

Washington married Mary Bolling Kemp and they had four children, George, Anne, Joseph, and Elizabeth. Washington died on August 28, 1915, (aged 63) on the family estate. He is interred at the family burying ground on his estate.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Joseph Edwin 1851 births 1915 deaths People from Robertson County, Tennessee Democratic Party members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee 19th-century American politicians Vanderbilt University alumni Georgetown College (Georgetown University) alumni 19th-century American businesspeople