Emory SPEER, Congress, GA (1848-1918)

SPEER Emory , a Representative from Georgia; born in Culloden, Monroe County, Ga., September 3, 1848; pursued classical studies and was graduated from the University of Georgia at Athens in 1869; entered the Confederate Army at the age of sixteen as a volunteer in the Fifth Kentucky Regiment, Lewis brigade, and remained with that command throughout the Civil War; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1869 and commenced practice in Athens, Ga.; solicitor general of Georgia 1873-1876; unsuccessful candidate for election to the Forty-fifth Congress to fill the unexpired term of Benjamin H. Hill; elected as an Independent Democrat to the Forty-sixth and Forty-seventh Congresses (March 4, 1879-March 3, 1883); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1882; United States attorney for the northern district of Georgia 1883-1885; district judge of the southern Federal judicial district of Georgia 1885-1918; dean of Mercer University Law School 1893-1918; died in Macon, Ga., December 13, 1918; interment in Riverside Cemetery.

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