Eldred SIMKINS, Congress, SC (1779-1831)

SIMKINS, Eldred, a Representative from South Carolina; born in Edgefield, S.C., August 30, 1779; attended a private academy at Willington, Abbeville District, S.C., and was graduated from South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina) at Columbia; attended Litchfield (Conn.) Law School for three years; was admitted to the bar in 1805 and commenced practice in Edgefield, S.C., in 1806; member of the State house of representatives; served in the State senate 1810-1812; Lieutenant Governor of the State 1812-1814; elected as a Republican to the Fifteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John C. Calhoun; reelected to the Sixteenth Congress and served from January 24, 1818, to March 3, 1821; chairman, Committee on Public Expenditures (Sixteenth Congress); declined to be a candidate for renomination; again a member of the State house of representatives, 1828-1829; resumed the practice of his profession and also engaged in planting; died in Edgefield, Edgefield County, S.C., November 17, 1831; interment in Cedar Fields, the family burial ground, near Edgefield, S.C.

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