James Madison LEACH, Congress, NC (1815-1891)

LEACH James Madison , a Representative from North Carolina; born at the family homestead, ``Lansdowne,'' Randolph County, N.C., January 17, 1815; attended the common schools and Caldwell Institute, Greensboro, N.C.; was graduated from the United States Military Academy, West Point, N.Y., in 1838; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1842 and commenced practice in Lexington, N.C.; member of the State house of commons 1848-1858; presidential elector on the American Party ticket in 1856; elected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1859-March 3, 1861); captain and lieutenant colonel in the Confederate Army during the Civil War; member of the Confederate States Congress in 1864 and 1865; member of the State senate in 1865, 1866, and again in 1879; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-second and Forty-third Congresses (March 4, 1871-March 3, 1875); declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1874; died in Lexington, N.C., June 1, 1891; interment in Hopewell Cemetery, near Trinity, Randolph County, N.C.

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