Francis R. Lassiter
Encyclopedia
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 Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, great-nephew of Francis Everod Rives.
Born in Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...
, Lassiter attended McCabe's University School at Petersburg and was graduated from the law department of the University of Virginia at Charlottesville in 1886.
He was admitted to the bar in 1887 and commenced practice in Boston, Massachusetts.
He returned to Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...
, in 1888 and continued the practice of law. He became the City attorney of Petersburg from 1888-1893. Lassiter was appointed by President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
to be United States attorney for the eastern district of Virginia in 1893 and served until 1896, when he resigned.
He served as captain of Company G, Fourth Regiment, Virginia State Militia.
He was appointed supervisor of the Twelfth Census for the Fourth Congressional District of Virginia in 1899.
Lassiter was elected as a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
to the Fifty-sixth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Sydney P. Epes.
He was reelected to the Fifty-seventh Congress and served from April 19, 1900, to March 3, 1903.
Lassiter was elected to the Sixtieth and Sixty-first Congresses and served from March 4, 1907, until his death in Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...
, October 31, 1909. He is interred in Blanford Cemetery. His family papers are held by the Special Collections Research Center at the College of William & Mary.