Kenneth Rayner (June 20, 1808 – March 5, 1884) was an American lawyer and politician who served three terms as a whig

U.S. Congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

between 1839 and 1845.

Early life and career

Born in

Bertie County, North Carolina Bertie County ( , with both syllables stressed) is a county located in the northeast area of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,934. Its county seat is Windsor. The county was created in 1722 as Berti ...

, Rayner attended Tarborough Academy, then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1829. Rayner moved to Hertford County, where he practiced law.

U.S. House

In 1835, Rayner was a delegate to the state Constitutional Convention; he served terms in the

North Carolina House of Commons The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North Ca ...

in 1835 and 1836 before being elected to the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

in 1838. He served three terms as a Whig, in the 26th, 27th, and 28th Congresses (March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1845).

Life after Congress

Rayner did not run for a fourth term in 1844. He then returned to the State House, serving in 1846, 1848, and 1850. He was then elected to the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The term of office for e ...

in 1854. In the 1860 United States presidential election, he would support and campaign for the Constitutional Union Party ticket of John Bell and

Edward Everett Edward Everett (April 11, 1794 – January 15, 1865) was an American politician, Unitarian pastor, educator, diplomat, and orator from Massachusetts. Everett, as a Whig, served as U.S. representative, U.S. senator, the 15th governor of Massa ...

, who would go on to lose the election to

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

. In 1871 Rayner was appointed by President

Grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom *Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama *Grant, Inyo County, C ...

as one of the court commissioners to settle the

Alabama Claims The ''Alabama'' Claims were a series of demands for damages sought by the government of the United States from the United Kingdom in 1869, for the attacks upon Union merchant ships by Confederate Navy commerce raiders built in British shipyards ...

. From 1877 to 1884 he was

Solicitor of the United States Treasury The Solicitor of the Treasury position was created in the United States Department of the Treasury by an act of May 29, 1830 , which changed the name of the Agent of the Treasury. Function The Solicitor of the Treasury served as legal advisor to th ...

Death

Rayner died in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

on March 5, 1884 and is buried in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayner, Kenneth Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives North Carolina state senators People from Bertie County, North Carolina 1808 births 1884 deaths Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina 19th-century American politicians