LaFayette "Fayette" McMullen (May 18, 1805 – November 8, 1880) was a 19th-century politician, driver, teamster and banker from the U.S. state of

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 ...

and the second appointed Governor of

Washington Territory The Washington Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...

Early life and family

Born in Estillville, Virginia, McMullen attended private schools as a child. He was a

driver and

teamster A teamster in American English is a truck driver; a person who drives teams of draft animals; or a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a labor union. In some places, a teamster was called a carter, the name referring to the ...

, working in the family owned business and driving a coach. He married Mary (Polly) Wood, daughter of the sheriff, in 1826. They had no children.

Career

McMullen became a member of the

Senate of Virginia The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Vir ...

in 1839, serving until 1849. He was elected as a Democrat to 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 ...

in 1848, serving from 1849 to 1857. There, McMullen served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Navy from 1851 to 1855 and chairman of the Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings from 1855 to 1857. McMullen was a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

in 1852 and 1856. McMullen was appointed by President

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...

, as Territorial Governor of Washington in 1857, serving until 1859. McMullen was elected as a Democrat to the Confederate House of Representatives in 1863, serving from 1864 until the crumbling of the Confederacy in 1865. Afterwards, he engaged in agricultural and banking pursuits and unsuccessfully ran for

Governor of Virginia The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. The Governor (United States), governor is head of the Government_of_Virginia#Executive_branch, executive branch ...

in 1878.

Death

McMullen died in a train accident on November 8, 1880, in

Wytheville, Virginia Wytheville ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Wythe County, Virginia, Wythe County, Virginia, United States. It is named after George Wythe, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and mentor to Thomas Jefferson. Wytheville ...

, and is interred at Round Hill Cemetery in

Marion, Virginia Marion is a town in and the county seat of Smyth County, Virginia, United States. It is positioned upon Interstate 81, in the Blue Ridge portion of the southern Appalachian Mountains in Southwest Virginia. The town is named for American Revolu ...

References

External links

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at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 Politics of the United States, American political figures and List of United States political families, political families, along with other informa ...

Ancestry.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:McMullen, Fayette 1805 births 1880 deaths Democratic Party Virginia state senators Governors of Washington Territory Railway accident deaths in the United States Accidental deaths in Virginia Members of the Confederate House of Representatives from Virginia Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia People from Gate City, Virginia 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly

Early life and family

Career

Death

References

Further reading

External links