Abram Poindexter Maury ( , December 26, 1801 – July 22, 1848) was an American politician, who represented

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

eighth Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight. Eighth may refer to: * One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole * Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet) * Octave, an interval b ...

district in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. He was a slaveholder.

Biography

Maury was born near

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020 Uni ...

, on the plantation of his father, Abraham "Abram" Maury, Jr. After his preparatory

studies Study or studies may refer to: General * Education **Higher education * Clinical trial * Experiment * Field of study * Observational study * Scientific study * Research * Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning Other * Study ...

, he became the editor of a newspaper in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, at the age of sixteen. He next entered the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York (state), New York, General George Washington stationed his headquarters in West Point in the summer and fall of 1779 durin ...

, in 1820. He left the following year to pursue the study of law and edit a newspaper in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. In 1826, he married Mary Eliza Tennessee Claiborne (1806-1852), daughter of Sarah Terrell Lewis and Dr.

Thomas Augustine Claiborne Thomas Augustine Claiborne (b. 1770s–1818) was an American physician and Tennessee state legislator. Claiborne studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. For a time he worked as United States Navy surgeon. He and his brother William C ...

, whose family was politically well-connected in the South. They had nine children together, naming the seventh Septima and the eighth Octavia. His father, Abraham Poindexter Maury, Jr. was a member of the

Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee , Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any ...

and is the namesake of

Maury County, Tennessee Maury County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee, in the Middle Tennessee region. As of the 2020 census, the population was 100,974. Its county seat is Columbia. Maury County is part of the Nashville-Davidson– Murfreesb ...

Career

Maury was a member of the

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 According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

in 1831, 1832, 1843, and 1844. He was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

in 1839 and practiced in

Williamson County, Tennessee Williamson County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 247,726. The county seat is Franklin, Tennessee, Franklin, and the county is located in Middle Tenness ...

. Elected as a

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

supporter to the

Twenty-fourth Congress The 24th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 183 ...

by Tennessee's eighth district and re-elected as a Whig to the

Twenty-fifth Congress The 25th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 183 ...

, Maury served from March 4, 1835, to March 3, 1839. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1838. Maury resumed the practice of law in

and also engaged in

literary Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, plays, and poems. It includes both print and digital writing. In recent centuries, ...

pursuits and

lecturing A lecture (from ) is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history, background, theor ...

. He served in the

in 1845 and 1846.

Death

Maury died near Franklin, Tennessee July 22, 1848 (age 46 years, 209 days) and was

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and object ...

in the family cemetery at Founders Pointe near Franklin, Tennessee.

References

External links

*
Abram Poindexter Maury, Jr.'s entry at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maury, Abram Poindexter 1801 births 1848 deaths People from Williamson County, Tennessee Maury family (Virginia) National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Tennessee state senators 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly