Thomas Clendinen CATCHINGS, Congress, MS (1847-1927)

CATCHINGS Thomas Clendinen , a Representative from Mississippi; born near Brownsville, Hinds County, Miss., January 11, 1847; was tutored at home; attended the University of Mississippi at Oxford in 1859 and Oakland College in 1861; entered the Confederate Army in 1861 and served as a private in Company A, Eighteenth Mississippi Infantry, and subsequently in Company C, Eleventh (Perrin's) Mississippi Cavalry; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1866 and commenced practice in Vicksburg; elected to the State senate in 1875 but resigned in 1877; elected attorney general of Mississippi in 1877; reelected in 1881 and served until February 16, 1885; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-ninth and to the seven succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1885-March 3, 1901); chairman, Committee on Levees and Improvements of the Mississippi River (Fiftieth Congress), Committee on Railways and Canals (Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses), Committee on Rivers and Harbors (Fifty-third Congress); resumed the practice of law; also served as division counsel for the Southern Railway Co.; member of the Mississippi Code Commission by appointment of Governor Vardaman; died in Vicksburg, Miss., December 24, 1927; interment in the City Cemetery.

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