Samuel McClary Fite (June 12, 1816 – October 23, 1875) was an American politician and a member of 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 ...
for
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 ...
's
4th congressional district.
Biography
Samuel McClary Fite was born the son of Jacob and Matilda M. Fite on June 12, 1816 near
Alexandria, Tennessee
Alexandria is a town in DeKalb County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 981 at the 2020 census.
History
Alexandria was founded in 1820 by Dr. Daniel Alexander, and named for him. A post office has been in operation there since 1838.
...
in
Smith County. He attended the common and private schools and graduated from
Clinton College in Tennessee. Fite studied law in
Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
, 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 ...
, and commenced practice in
Carthage, Tennessee
Carthage is a town in and the county seat of Smith County, Tennessee, United States; it is part of the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,306 at the 2010 census. It is located on the Cumberland River, which was importa ...
. He married Catherine Isabella Wilson on September 5, 1855, and they had three daughters, Josephine Rowena, Catherine McClary, and Alberta Beard.
Career
By 1850, Fite 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 ...
. In 1852 at the age of 36, he was placed on the
Whig ticket as a
presidential elector
In the United States, the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors that is formed every four years for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president in the presidential election. This process is described in ...
. From 1858 to 1861, he was a judge of the sixth judicial district. Upon suspension of the court during the war, he resumed the practice of law in Carthage, Tennessee. He was appointed on July 24, 1869 to be the judge of the sixth judicial district to fill a vacancy. He was elected to the same position on January 8, 1870, and he served until 1874.
In 1875, Fite was elected as a
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY)
**Democratic Part ...
to the
Forty-fourth Congress
The 44th 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, 1875, ...
to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John W. Head. He served from March 4, 1875 until his death, before the assembling of Congress.
Death
Fite died at a sanitarium in
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County, Arkansas, Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs ...
on October 23, 1875, (age 59 years, 133 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 ...
at Carthage Cemetery in
Carthage, Tennessee
Carthage is a town in and the county seat of Smith County, Tennessee, United States; it is part of the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,306 at the 2010 census. It is located on the Cumberland River, which was importa ...
. He was then reinterred at
Mount Olivet Cemetery 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 1908.
See also
*
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fite, Samuel Mcclary
1816 births
1875 deaths
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee
Tennessee state court judges
People from Carthage, Tennessee
19th-century Tennessee state court judges
19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives
19th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly