Allen T. Caperton

Allen Caperton
United States Senator
from West Virginia
In office
March 4, 1875  July 26, 1876
Preceded by Arthur Boreman
Succeeded by Samuel Price
Confederate States Senator
from Virginia
In office
January 22, 1864  May 10, 1865
Preceded by William B. Preston
Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Monroe County
In office
December 7, 1857  December 2, 1861
Preceded by Alexander Clarke
Succeeded by Wilson Lively
In office
December 6, 1841  December 5, 1842
Preceded by Augustus A. Chapman
Succeeded by William Adair
Personal details
Born Allen Taylor Caperton
(1810-11-21)November 21, 1810
Union, Virginia, U.S.
(now West Virginia)
Died July 26, 1876(1876-07-26) (aged 65)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party Democratic
Alma mater University of Virginia
Yale University

Allen Taylor Caperton (November 21, 1810 – July 26, 1876) was an American politician who was a United States Senator from the State of West Virginia in 18751876. He was a member of the Democratic Party. He had served in the Virginia House of Delegates and Virginia State Senate before the American Civil War. During the Civil War, he served as a Confederate States Senator.

Early life

Caperton, son of Hugh Caperton and Jane Erskine, was born near Union, Monroe County, West Virginia (now West Virginia) on November 21, 1810. At the age of 14, he traveled by horseback to Huntsville, Alabama, to attend school. He later graduated from the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, then graduated from Yale College in 1832. He studied law in Staunton, Virginia, was admitted to the bar and practiced law. He was married to Harriett Echols.

Political career

Caperton served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1841-1842. He was elected a member of the Virginia Senate in 1844, and served until 1848. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates again from 1857 to 1861. In 1850 he was a delegate to the State constitutional convention. In 1861, he was a member of the Virginia Secession Convention.

During the Civil War, he was elected by the legislature of Virginia to be a member of the Confederate States Senate in which he served until 1865.

After the war, he was the first ex-Confederate elected to the United States Senate, entering office as a Democrat from West Virginia and served from March 4, 1875, until his death in Washington, D.C., July 26, 1876. He was interred in Green Hill Cemetery, Union, West Virginia.

His residence near Union, West Virginia, "Elmwood," was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.[1]

References

  1. National Park Service (July 9, 2010). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.

External links

Confederate States Senate
Preceded by
William Preston
Confederate States Senator (Class 2) from Virginia
1864–1865
Served alongside: Robert Hunter
Constituency abolished
United States Senate
Preceded by
Arthur Boreman
U.S. Senator (Class 1) from West Virginia
March 4, 1875 – July 26, 1876
Served alongside: Henry Davis
Succeeded by
Samuel Price


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/17/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.