Walter Leak Steele (April 18, 1823 – October 16, 1891) was a
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 between 1877 and 1881.
Born near
Rockingham in
Richmond County, North Carolina, Steele attended common schools near his home and then
Randolph-Macon College in
Ashland, Virginia,
Wake Forest College, and finally the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating in 1844.
Steele was elected to two-years terms in the
North Carolina House of Commons in 1846, 1848, 1850, and 1854; he rose to the
North Carolina Senate, serving there between 1852 and 1858, and in 1852, he was named as a trustee of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a post he held until his death.
A delegate to the 1860
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...
s in
Charleston
Charleston most commonly refers to:
* Charleston, South Carolina
* Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital
* Charleston (dance)
Charleston may also refer to:
Places Australia
* Charleston, South Australia
Canada
* Charleston, Newfoundlan ...
and
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...
, Steele chaired the 1861 state convention which passed the ordinance of secession at the beginning of the
American Civil War. Steele studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1865 and practiced law in his hometown of Rockingham.
Steele was elected to the
45th and
46th U.S. Congress, serving from March 4, 1877, to March 4, 1881. He declined to run again in 1880 and returned to cotton manufacturing and banking.
Walter L. Steele died in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
in 1891 and is buried in Leak Cemetery near Rockingham, North Carolina.
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Walter Leak
1823 births
1891 deaths
Randolph–Macon College alumni
Wake Forest University alumni
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni
Democratic Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives
Democratic Party North Carolina state senators
People from Richmond County, North Carolina
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina
19th-century American legislators