Biography
a Senator from North Carolina; born in Raleigh, N.C., October 23, 1801; attended the Raleigh Male Academy and graduated from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 1819; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1822 and commenced practice in Raleigh, N.C.; member, State house of commons 1831, 1834-1836, serving the last year as speaker; appointed Charge d'Affaires to Belgium by President Martin Van Buren, but declined; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1843, until July 25, 1846, when he resigned, having refused to be instructed by the State legislature on a tariff question; chairman, Committee on Commerce (Twenty-ninth Congress), Committee on the District of Columbia (Twenty-ninth Congress); resumed the practice of law in Raleigh, N.C., and died there on October 7, 1852; interment in the Old City Cemetery, Raleigh, N.C.
Courtesy of Biographical Directory of the United States Congress