James M. H. Beale

James M. H. Beale
U.S. Representative from Virginia
In office
1833–1837
U.S. Representative from Virginia
In office
1849–1853
Personal details
Born(1786-02-07)February 7, 1786
DiedAugust 2, 1866(1866-08-02) (aged 80)
PartyDemocratic

James M. H. Beale (February 7, 1786 – August 2, 1866) was an American politician, planter and slave holder[1] who represented Virginia in the United States House of Representatives from 1833 to 1837 and from 1849 to 1853. Beale unsuccessfully ran for Virginia's Lieutenant Governor as the Know Nothing candidate in 1855.

Biography

Beale was born James Madison Hite Beale in Mount Airy, Virginia. He pursued some preparatory studies then ran his plantation property. He was elected to the State house of delegates and served from 1818 to 1819.[2]

Beale was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses (March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1837). He served as chairman of the Committee on Invalid Pensions (Twenty-fourth Congress). He resumed agricultural pursuits.

Beale was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-first and Thirty-second Congresses (March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1853). He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings (Thirty-first Congress), Committee on Manufactures (Thirty-second Congress). He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1852.

In 1855, Beale left the Democratic Party for the Know Nothing Party to run for Lieutenant Governor on the ticket of Thomas Flournoy. Although Flournoy and Beale were both slave owners, the opposing Democrat candidates accused them of being abolitionists associated with the Northern states' anti-slavery movement. Flournoy and Beale lost the election in a landslide.[3]

Beale died in Putnam County, W.Virginia, August 2, 1866.[4] He was interred in Beale Cemetery, near Gallipolis Ferry, Mason County, W.Virginia.

References

  1. ↑ "Congress slaveowners", The Washington Post, January 19, 2022, retrieved January 25, 2022
  2. ↑ "James Madison Hite Beale | Sessions Served: 1818 - 1819". House of Delegates History (DOME). Virginia General Assembly. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  3. ↑ Bladek, John David (1998). "Virginia is middle ground". Virginia Magazine of History & Biography. 106 (1): 35–70. Retrieved July 23, 2026.
  4. ↑ Tyler, Lyon Gardiner (1915). "Beale, James Madison Hite". Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography. Lewis historical publishing Company. p. 99.

Sources

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Federal government of the United States.

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