James Mercer GARNETT, Congress, VA (1770-1843)

GARNETT James Mercer , a Representative from Virginia; born at ``Mount Pleasant,'' near Loretto, Essex County, Va., June 8, 1770; studied under private teachers; engaged in planting; member of the State house of delegates in 1800 and 1801; elected as a Republican to the Ninth and Tenth Congresses (March 4, 1805-March 3, 1809); member of the grand jury that indicted Aaron Burr, former Vice President, for treason in 1807; was not a candidate for renomination in 1808; again engaged in planting, and during the later years of his life conducted a school for boys on his plantation; president of the Fredericksburg Agricultural Society 1817-1837; again a member of the State house of delegates in 1824 and 1825; member of the anti-tariff conventions of 1821 and 1831; one of the founders of the Virginia State Agricultural Society; vice president of the Virginia Colonization Society; delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1829; died on his estate, ``Elmwood,'' near Loretto, Va., April 23, 1843; interment in the family burying ground on his estate.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present