Henry Emerson Etheridge was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 for Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

's 9th congressional district

Tennessee's 9th congressional district

The 9th Congressional District of Tennessee is a Congressional district in southwestern Tennessee. The district is located entirely within Shelby County, and includes most of the city of Memphis...

.

Biography

He was born in Currituck

Currituck County, North Carolina

-National protected areas:*Currituck National Wildlife Refuge*Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge -Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 23,547 people, 6,902 households, and 5,204 families residing in the county. The population density was 70 people per square mile . There were...

, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 on September 28, 1819. He moved with his parents to Tennessee in 1831. He studied law, was admitted to the bar

Bar association

A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...

 in 1840, and commenced practice in Dresden, Tennessee

Dresden, Tennessee

Dresden is a town in and the county seat of Weakley County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,855 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Dresden is located at ....

. He was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives

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:...

 from 1845 to 1847.

He was elected as a Whig

Whig Party (United States)

The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...

 to the Thirty-third Congress and re-elected as a member of the American Party

Know Nothing

The Know Nothing was a movement by the nativist American political faction of the 1840s and 1850s. It was empowered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed by German and Irish Catholic immigrants, who were often regarded as hostile to Anglo-Saxon Protestant values and controlled by...

 to the Thirty-fourth Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1856 to the Thirty-fifth Congress, but he was later re-elected as a member of the Opposition Party to the Thirty-sixth Congress. He served from March 4, 1853 to March 3, 1857 and from March 4, 1859 to March 3, 1861. During the Thirty-sixth Congress, he was chairman of the United States House Committee on Indian Affairs.

In the early months of 1861 Etheridge spoke eloquently in Congress in opposition to secession

Origins of the American Civil War

The main explanation for the origins of the American Civil War is slavery, especially Southern anger at the attempts by Northern antislavery political forces to block the expansion of slavery into the western territories...

, for which he was labeled a "Southern Black Republican" by his opponents. He remained loyal to the Union

Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

 even after the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 broke out later that year. When his term in Congress ended, he was elected the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives

Clerk of the United States House of Representatives

The Clerk of the United States House of Representatives is an officer of the United States House of Representatives, whose primary duty is to act as the chief record-keeper for the House....

, serving in that position from 1861 to 1863.

In 1867, he was an unsuccessful candidate for governor. He was a member of the Tennessee Senate

Tennessee Senate

The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the Tennessee state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly.The Tennessee Senate, according to the state constitution of 1870, is composed of 33 members, one-third the size of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Senators...

 in 1869 and 1870. From 1891 to 1894, he was the surveyor of customs of Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

. He died in Dresden, Tennessee on October 21, 1902. He was interred

Burial

Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...

 in Mount Vernon Cemetery near Sharon, Tennessee

Sharon, Tennessee

Sharon is a town in Weakley County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 988 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Sharon is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land....

.