Meade, Richard K.

Born: 1803-07-29 Brunswick County, Virginia

Died: 1862-04-20 Petersburg, Virginia

Richard Meade pursued an academic course and studied law. He earned admittance to the bar and started a practice in Petersburg, Virginia. Meade served in the Virginia Senate from 1835 to 1838. Meade won election, as a Democrat, to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1847, to fill a vacancy. He won reelection to the following two Congresses and served until 1853. In 1857, President James Buchanan appointed Meade minister to Brazil, a position he held until 1861. Meade returned to Virginia and heavily supported the Confederate cause during the Civil War.

Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1996 (Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997), 1507; Gravestone, Blandford Cemetery, Petersburg, VA.