John Jones McRAE, Congress, MS (1815-1868)

McRAE, John Jones, a Senator and a Representative from Mississippi; born in Sneedsboro (now McFarlan), N.C., January 10, 1815; moved with his parents to Winchester, Wayne County, Miss., in 1817; pursued an academic course; graduated from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in 1834; studied law in Pearlington, Miss.; admitted to the bar and practiced; founded the Eastern Clarion at Paulding, Miss.; member, State house of representatives 1848-1850, serving as speaker in 1850; appointed as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Jefferson Davis and served from December 1, 1851, to March 17, 1852, when a successor was elected and qualified; Governor of Mississippi 1854-1858; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fifth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John A. Quitman; reelected to the Thirty-sixth Congress and served from December 7, 1858, until he withdrew on January 12, 1861; representative from Mississippi in the Confederate Congress 1862-1864; went to British Honduras in May 1868, and died at Belize, May 31, 1868; interment at Belize, British Honduras.

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