Richard Clauselle PURYEAR, Congress, NC (1801-1867)

PURYEAR Richard Clauselle , a Representative from North Carolina; born in Mecklenburg County, Va., February 9, 1801; moved with his parents to Surry County, N.C.; pursued classical studies; engaged in planting near Huntsville, N.C.; colonel of militia; magistrate of Surry County; served in the state house of commons in 1838, 1844, 1846, and in 1852; member of the state senate; elected as a Whig to the Thirty-third Congress and reelected as an American Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1853-March 3, 1857); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1856 to the Thirty-fifth Congress; was a delegate to the Confederate Provisional Congress which assembled at Richmond in 1861; delegate to the peace congress held in Philadelphia after the Civil War; resumed agricultural pursuits; died on his plantation, ``Shallow Ford,'' in Yadkin County, N.C., July 30, 1867; interment in the family burial ground.

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