Edward Carrington Venable (January 31, 1853 – December 8, 1908) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the 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 Article One of th ...

from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Biography

Born near

Hampden-Sydney Hampden Sydney is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince Edward County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,450 at the 2010 census. Hampden Sydney is the home of Hampden–Sydney College, a private all-male college that is the tenth ...

, in Prince Edward,

, Venable attended the local school, McCabe's University High School,

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 33,458 with a majority bla ...

, and the

University of Virginia at Charlottesville The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his Academical Village, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The original governin ...

. He taught school for three years, and then returned to Petersburg in 1876 and engaged in mercantile pursuits. He served as delegate to the Democratic State convention in 1886, and presented credentials as a Democratic Member-elect to the

Fifty-first Congress The 51st United States Congress, referred to by some critics as the Billion Dollar 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 Rep ...

and served from March 4, 1889, to September 23, 1890, when he was succeeded by John M. Langston, who successfully contested his election. After losing reelection, Venable resumed his former business pursuits. He died in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, Maryland, December 8, 1908 and was interred in

Blandford Cemetery Blandford Cemetery is a historic cemetery located in Petersburg, Virginia. Although in recent years it has attained some notoriety for its large collection of more than 30,000 Confederate graves, it contains remains of people of all classes and r ...

Electoral history

1888; Venable was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 43.08% of the vote, defeating Republicans John Mercer Langston and R. W. Arnold but the election was contested and Langston was seated.

Sources

1853 births 1908 deaths University of Virginia alumni Politicians from Petersburg, Virginia Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia Burials at Blandford Cemetery 19th-century Virginia politicians 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives {{Virginia-politician-stub