John Myers Felder Explained

John Myers Felder
Birth Date:July 7, 1782
Birth Place:Orangeburg, South Carolina, U.S.
Death Place:Orangeburg, South Carolina, U.S.
State3:South Carolina
District3:4th
Term Start3:March 4, 1831
Term End3:March 3, 1835
Predecessor3:William D. Martin
Successor3:James H. Hammond
Office4:Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Orange Parish
Term4:November 25, 1822 – December 20, 1823
Term5:November 23, 1812 – December 16, 1815
Office1:Member of the South Carolina Senate from Orange Parish
Term1:November 23, 1840 – September 1, 1851
Predecessor1:Sanders Glover
Successor1:Michael Grambling
Term2:November 25, 1816 – December 18, 1819
Predecessor2:Donald Rowe
Successor2:George Gilmore Salley
Alma Mater:Yale University
Litchfield Law School
Profession:lawyer, planter
Party:Jacksonian
Otherparty:Nullifier

John Myers Felder (July 7, 1782 – September 1, 1851) was a United States politician who served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing South Carolina, from 1831 to 1835.

Biography

His grandfather was a native of Switzerland, came to South Carolina about 1720, and was killed during the American Revolution while defending his house against an attack by Tories. The grandson was born in the vicinity of Orangeburg, South Carolina. He graduated from Yale University in 1804, a roommate and close friend of John Caldwell Calhoun.

Early career

After graduation, he studied at Litchfield Law School, and was admitted to the bar in 1808. He was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1812.

Congress

In 1830, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives and served in Congress for four years, first as a Jacksonian and from 1833 as a Nullifier.

Later career and death

After declining renomination in 1834, he went back to South Carolina, where the voters of Orangeburg returned him to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1840. He served there until his death on September 1, 1851.

Felder retired from the legal profession in 1830, and became a prosperous mill owner and planter. He never married and had no children, although his sister Eliza has many descendants.