Joseph Edwin Washington 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 the 6th congressional district

Tennessee's 6th congressional district

The 6th Congressional District of Tennessee is a congressional district in Middle Tennessee. It currently includes all of Bedford, Cannon, Clay, DeKalb, Jackson, Macon, Marshall, Overton, Putnam, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Sumner, and Trousdale Counties, as well as a portion of Wilson County...

 of 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...

.

Biography

He was born on November 10, 1851 on the family homestead, "Wessyngton," near Cedar Hill, Tennessee

Cedar Hill, Tennessee

Cedar Hill is a city in Robertson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 298 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Cedar Hill is located at ....

 in Robertson County. He received his early instruction at home and graduated from Georgetown College

Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

 in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 on June 26, 1873. He studied law with the first law class organized at Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

 in Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

 in 1874. He 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...

, but never practiced, and he engaged in agricultural pursuits.

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 1877 to 1879. He was elected as a Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 to the Fiftieth and the four succeeding Congresses. He served from March 4, 1887 to March 3, 1897, but he was not a candidate for renomination in 1896. He was the chairman of the United States House Committee on Territories

United States House Committee on Territories

The United States House Committee on Territories was a committee of the United States House of Representatives from 1825 to 1946 . Its jurisdiction was reporting on a variety to topics related to the territories, including legislation concerning them, and their admission as new states....

 during the Fifty-second Congress.

He was appointed road commissioner and had charge of road construction work of Robertson County. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of Vanderbilt University and a director of the Nashville, Chattanooga

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...

 & St. Louis

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

 and Nashville & Decatur

Decatur, Tennessee

Decatur is a town in Meigs County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,395 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Meigs County.The local pronunciation of the name is duh▪KAY▪ter .-Geography:Decatur is located at...

 Railroads. He resumed agricultural pursuits upon the family homestead, "Wessyngton," in Robertson County, Tennessee, where he died on August 28, 1915. 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 the family burying ground on his estate.

External links