Elisha E. Meredith

Elisha Edward Meredith (December 26, 1848 – July 29, 1900) was a U.S. Representative from Virginia.

Elisha E. Meredith
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 8th district
In office December 9, 1891 – March 3, 1897
Preceded by	William H. F. Lee
Succeeded by	John F. Rixey
Member of the Virginia Senate from the 14th district
In office December 5, 1883 – December 7, 1887
Preceded by	Francis L. Smith
Succeeded by	R. Walton Moore
Personal details
Born	Elisha Edward Meredith December 26, 1848 Sumter, Alabama, U.S.
Died	July 29, 1900 (aged 51) Manassas, Virginia, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	Hampden–Sydney College
Profession	lawyer

Biography

Born in Sumter County, Alabama, Meredith attended Hampden–Sydney College, Virginia. He studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1869 and commenced practice in Prince William County. He served as prosecuting attorney for Prince William County 1876-1883. He served as member of the Senate of Virginia in 1883–1887.

In 1891 E. E. Meredith and Robert R. Campbell were the court appointed attorneys for Joseph Dye and Lee R. Heflin, white farm workers, who were tried for the murder of a white Fauquier County, Virginia, family (a widow and her three young children) during a robbery. The killers attempted to cover up their crime by burning the house. After the two killers were convicted and sentenced to death they were taken from sheriff’s deputies transporting them to another jail and lynched in Prince William County, Virginia.[1]

Meredith was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-second Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William H.F. Lee. He was reelected to the Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth Congresses and served from December 9, 1891, to March 3, 1897. He resumed the practice of his profession. He died in Manassas, Virginia, on July 29, 1900. He was interred in Manassas Cemetery.

References

1. "The forgotten lynchings of 1892". fauquier.com. 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2020-12-14.

Sources

• United States Congress. "Elisha E. Meredith (id: M000647)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov.