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

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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.

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{{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