Weldon Nathaniel Edwards (January 25, 1788 – December 18, 1873) was a

Congressional Representative A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ad ...

from North Carolina (1816 – 1827).

Early life

Edwards was born in 1788 in Gaston, North Carolina. He has attended Warrenton Academy where he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1810 commencing practice in Warrenton, North Carolina.

Political career

State house of representatives

Edwards was member of the State house of representatives in 1814 and 1815.

Congressional career

Edwards served from February 7, 1816, to March 3, 1827 in the United States House of Representatives. He was elected as a Republican to the

Fourteenth Congress The 14th 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 the Old Brick Capitol in Washingto ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Nathaniel Macon, was reelected as a Republican to the Fifteenth,

Sixteenth The 16th century begins with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (Roman numerals, MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (Roman numerals, MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar ...

, and Seventeenth Congresses, elected as a Crawford Republican to the Eighteenth Congress, and as a Jacksonian to the

Nineteenth Congress The 19th 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, 1825, ...

. Edwards was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Treasury (Eighteenth Congress), Committee on Public Expenditures (Nineteenth Congress). He declined to be a candidate for reelection in 1826 and chose to return to his plantation instead.

North Carolina Senate

He was a member of the State senate between 1833–1844. In 1835 he was a member of the State constitutional convention. Edwards was reelected to the State senate in 1850 and chosen its speaker. He was president of the State secession convention in 1861.

Death

Edwards died in Warren County, North Carolinaon December 18, 1873 interred in a private cemetery at his home, "Poplar Mount," about twelve miles from Warrenton, Warren County, North Carolina.

References

U.S. Congress Biographical Directory entry

North Carolina Historical Marker
1788 births 1873 deaths People from Gaston, North Carolina Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives North Carolina state senators Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina 19th-century American politicians {{NorthCarolina-politician-stub