Alfred Moore Waddell was a Democratic U. S. Congressman

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 between 1871 and 1879 and later mayor of Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...

.

Family and education

He was the great-grandson of both Brigadier General Francis Nash

Francis Nash

Francis Nash was a brigadier general killed in the American Revolutionary War.Nash was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia. At an early age he became prominent as a North Carolina merchant, attorney, and justice of the peace; experiences which eventually led to a seat in the North Carolina...

 and U. S. Supreme Court Justice Alfred Moore

Alfred Moore

Alfred Moore was a distinguished North Carolina judge who became a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Moore Square, a park located in the Moore Square Historic District in Raleigh, North Carolina was named in his honor. Moore was buried at the St...

. Born in Hillsboro, North Carolina, Waddell attended Bingham’s School and Caldwell Institute before enrolling in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...

, graduating in 1853. He was admitted to the bar and began practicing law in Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...

 in 1855.

Political and military career

In 1856, he supported the American Party and opposed secession

Secession

Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...

 in the years leading up to the Civil War. A delegate to the Constitutional Union

Constitutional Union Party (United States)

The Constitutional Union Party was a political party in the United States created in 1860. It was made up of conservative former Whigs who wanted to avoid disunion over the slavery issue...

 National Convention in Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

 in 1860, Waddell entered the newspaper business in North Carolina; he edited the Wilmington Daily Herald in 1860 and 1861. He fought for the Confederacy in the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Third Cavalry, Forty-first North Carolina Regiment.

In 1870, Waddell was elected to the 42nd United States Congress

42nd United States Congress

The Forty-second United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1871 to March 3, 1873, during the third and fourth...

; he was re-elected three times, serving as the chairman of the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads during his final term in Congress. He was defeated for re-election by Daniel L. Russell in 1878 and returned to law and the newspaper business in North Carolina, serving as editor of the Charlotte

Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...

 Journal-Observer in 1881 and 1882. Waddell remained active in politics and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention

Democratic National Convention

The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...

s in 1880

1880 Democratic National Convention

The Democratic National Convention of 1880 met June 22 to 24 of that year, at the Cincinnati Music Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio. George Hoadly served as temporary chairman and John W. Stevenson served as permanent president. Delegates nominated Winfield S. Hancock of Pennsylvania for President of the...

 and 1896

1896 Democratic National Convention

The 1896 Democratic National Convention, held at the Chicago Coliseum from July 7 to July 11, was the scene of William Jennings Bryan's nomination as Democratic presidential candidate for the 1896 U.S. presidential election....

.

In 1898, he helped engineer the Wilmington Insurrection of 1898

Wilmington Insurrection of 1898

The Wilmington Insurrection of 1898, also known as the Wilmington Massacre of 1898 or the Wilmington Race Riot of 1898, occurred in Wilmington, North Carolina on November 10, 1898 and following days; it is considered a turning point in North Carolina politics following Reconstruction...

 and was "elected" mayor of Wilmington by the new city council after the coup d'état

Coup d'état

A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

 forced the resignation of Republican Mayor Silas P. Wright and other members of the city government. Waddell went on to serve as mayor until 1905. He died in Wilmington in 1912.

External links

• Inventory of the Alfred M. Waddell Papers, 1768-1935, in the Southern Historical Collection
  Southern Historical Collection
  The Southern Historical Collection is a repository of distinct archival collections at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill which document the culture and history of the American South...
  
  , UNC-Chapel Hill
  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
  
  
• NC History Project