Abram Poindexter Maury ( , December 26, 1801 – July 22, 1848) was an American politician, who represented

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

's eighth district in the

United States House of Representatives 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 ...

. He was a slaveholder.

Biography

Maury was born near

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020, its population was 83,454 ...

, on the plantation of his father, Abraham "Abram" Maury, Jr. After his preparatory

studies Study or studies may refer to: General * Education ** Higher education * Clinical trial * Experiment * Observational study * Research * Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning Other * Study (art), a drawing or series of d ...

, he became the editor of a newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri, at the age of sixteen. He next entered the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

, in 1820. He left the following year to pursue the study of law and edit a newspaper in

Nashville, Tennessee 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 ...

. In 1826, he married Mary Eliza Tennessee Claiborne (1806-1852), daughter of Sarah Terrell Lewis and Dr. Thomas Augustine Claiborne, whose family was politically well-connected in the South. They had nine children together, naming the seventh Septima and the eighth Octavia. His father, Abraham Poindexter Maury, Jr. was a member of the

Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any issue rega ...

and is the namesake of

Maury County, Tennessee Maury County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee, in the Middle Tennessee region. As of the 2020 census, the population was 100,974. Its county seat is Columbia. Maury County is part of the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro ...

Career

Maury 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 consi ...

in 1831, 1832, 1843, and 1844. 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 ( ...

in 1839 and practiced in Williamson County, Tennessee. Elected as a

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

supporter to the

Twenty-fourth Congress The 24th 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, 1835, ...

by Tennessee's eighth district and re-elected as a Whig to the

Twenty-fifth Congress The 25th 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, 183 ...

, Maury served from March 4, 1835, to March 3, 1839. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1838. Maury resumed the practice of law in Williamson County, Tennessee and also engaged in

literary Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to includ ...

pursuits and lecturing. He served in the

in 1845 and 1846.

Death

Maury died near Franklin, Tennessee July 22, 1848 (age 46 years, 209 days) and was

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

in the family cemetery at Founders Pointe near Franklin, Tennessee.

References

External links

*
Abram Poindexter Maury, Jr.'s entry at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maury, Abram Poindexter 1801 births 1848 deaths People from Williamson County, Tennessee Maury family of Virginia National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Tennessee state senators