Joseph Segar

Joseph Segar
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 1st district
In office March 16, 1862 – March 3, 1863
Preceded by	Muscoe Russell Hunter Garnett
Succeeded by	Richard S. Ayer (1870)
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Elizabeth City, Tyler and Warwick Counties and Williamsburg City
In office 1852–1861
Preceded by	District created
Succeeded by	James Custis
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Elizabeth City and Warwick Counties
In office 1848–1850
Preceded by	Edward Camm
Succeeded by	District abolished
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Northampton County
In office 1836–1837
Preceded by	Severn Parker
Succeeded by	George Yerby
Personal details
Born	June 1, 1804 King William County, Virginia
Died	April 30, 1880 (aged 75) Chesapeake Bay, Virginia
Resting place	Hampton, Virginia
Political party	Unionist
Occupation	Attorney

Joseph Eggleston Segar (June 1, 1804 – April 30, 1880) was a U.S. Representative from Virginia.

Early life

Born in King William County, Virginia, Segar attended the common schools. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and practiced law. He held several local offices, and served as member of the Virginia House of Delegates, 1836–1838, 1848–1852, and 1855-1861.

Congressional career

Segar presented credentials as a Unionist Member-elect to the Thirty-seventh Congress from an election held on October 24, 1861, but the House on February 11, 1862, decided he was not entitled to the seat. Segar was subsequently elected to the same Congress and served from March 15, 1862, to March 3, 1863.

In the Thirty-eighth Congress (1863–1865), no Virginia representatives were seated.^[1] Segar presented credentials, but was declared not entitled to the seat by resolution of May 17, 1864, though he was paid for mileage and pro-rated salary.

Segar presented credentials on February 17, 1865, as a United States Senator-elect to fill the vacancy in the term commencing March 4, 1863, caused by the death of Lemuel J. Bowden, but was not permitted to take his seat.^[1]

On January 25, 1870, in the Forty-first Congress, Segar claimed an at-large ninth seat for Virginia in the U.S. House, but was not seated. The recent Virginia constitutional convention had asserted the ninth seat,^[2] but Congress only allowed eight seats to Virginia, since its apportionment of eleven seats had been reduced by the three seats assigned to the new state of West Virginia in 1863.

Segar was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for election in 1876 to the Forty-fifth Congress.

Later life

Segar served as member of the Spanish Claims Commission from 1877 to 1880.

He died on a steamer while en route from Norfolk, Virginia, to Washington, D.C., on April 30, 1880. He was interred in St. John's Cemetery, Hampton, Virginia.

References

1. Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, (1774–2005), "Official Annotated Membership Roster by State with Vacancy and Special Election Information for the 38th Congress".
2. Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, (1774–2005), "Official Annotated Membership Roster by State with Vacancy and Special Election Information for the 41st Congress".

Sources

• Joseph Segar at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

External links

• Joseph Segar at Find a Grave

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.