Thomas Hord HERNDON, Congress, AL (1828-1883)

HERNDON, Thomas Hord, a Representative from Alabama; born in Erie, Greene (now Hale) County, Ala., July 1, 1828; attended a private school; was graduated from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa in 1847; attended the law school of Harvard University in 1848; was admitted to the bar in 1849 and commenced practice in Eutaw, Ala.; editor of the Eutaw Democrat in 1850; moved to Mobile, Ala., in 1853 and resumed the practice of law; member of the State house of representatives in 1857 and 1858; trustee of the University of Alabama in 1858 and 1859; returned to Greene County in 1859; member of the State secession convention in 1861; during the Civil War served as major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel of the Thirty-sixth Regiment, Alabama Infantry, in the Confederate Army and was wounded twice in battle; again moved to Mobile and resumed the practice of his profession; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Governor of Alabama in 1872; member of the State constitutional convention which met September 6, 1875; member of the State house of representatives in 1876 and 1877; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-sixth, Forty-seventh, and Forty-eighth Congresses and served from March 4, 1879, until his death in Mobile, Ala., March 28, 1883, before the convening of the Forty-eighth Congress; interment in Magnolia Cemetery.

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