Charles J. Faulkner

Charles James Faulkner
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from West Virginia's 2nd district
In office March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877
Preceded by	John Hagans
Succeeded by	Benjamin F. Martin
United States Minister to France
In office March 4, 1860 – May 12, 1861
Appointed by	James Buchanan
Preceded by	John Y. Mason
Succeeded by	John Bigelow
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 8th district
In office March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1859
Preceded by	Alexander Holladay
Succeeded by	Alexander Boteler
Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs
In office March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1859
Preceded by	John B. Weller
Succeeded by	Benjamin Stanton
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 10th district
In office March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853
Preceded by	Richard Parker
Succeeded by	Zedekiah Kidwell
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Berkeley County
In office 1848 Alongside William Boak
In office 1832–1833 Alongside William Good and Levi Henshaw
In office 1829 Alongside Elisha Boyd
Member of the Virginia Senate from Berkeley, Morgan and Hampshire Counties
In office 1837–1841
Preceded by	William Donaldson
Succeeded by	Thomas Sloan
Personal details
Born	(1806-07-06)July 6, 1806 Martinsburg, Virginia
Died	November 1, 1884(1884-11-01) (aged 78) Martinsburg, West Virginia
Political party	Democratic
Other political affiliations	Whig
Spouse(s)	Mary Wagner Boyde Faulkner
Profession	Politician, Lawyer
Military service
Allegiance	Confederate States of America
Service/branch	Confederate States Army
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel
Battles/wars	American Civil War

Charles James Faulkner (July 6, 1806 – November 1, 1884) was a nineteenth-century politician and lawyer from Virginia and West Virginia. He was the father of Charles James Faulkner.

Early life

Faulkner was born in Martinsburg, Berkeley County, Virginia (now West Virginia). Faulkner graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1822, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1829. Faulkner was the father of a son of the same name, Charles James Faulkner (1847-1929)^[1]

Career

As an adult, Faulkner practiced law in Berkeley County. He was elected a member of the Virginia House of Delegates 1832-33. Soon after Faulkner was appointed a commissioner to report on the boundary between Virginia and Maryland.^[2]

Later in his career, Faulkner was elected to the Virginia State Senate in 1841, and again to the General Assembly in 1848.^[3] In 1848 he introduced in the Virginia House of Delegates a law after which the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was modeled.^[4]

In 1850, Faulkner was elected to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850. He was one of four delegates elected from the northern Valley delegate district made up of his home district of Berkeley County as well as Jefferson and Clarke Counties.^[5]

Faulkner was a U.S. Representative from 1851 to 1858^[6] Entering Congress as a Whig, the next Congress Faulkner was elected as a Democrat, which he remained for the rest of his Congressional career.^[7]

Faulkner was elected a Whig and Democrat to the United States House of Representatives in 1850, serving from 1851 to 1859. There, he served as chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs from 1857 to 1859.^[8]

He was appointed by President James Buchanan Minister to France in 1860, serving until he was arrested in August 1861 on charges of negotiating sales of arms for the Confederacy while in Paris, France. He was imprisoned at Fort Warren in Boston. Faulkner was released in December after negotiating his own exchange for Alfred Ely, a New York congressman who was captured at the First Battle of Bull Run.^[9]

During the American Civil War, Faulkner enlisted in the Confederate Army and was a lieutenant colonel and assistant adjutant general on the staff of General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson.^[10][11]

Faulkner engaged in railroad enterprises after the war and was a member of the West Virginia Constitutional Convention again in 1872. He was elected back to the House of Representatives as a Democrat from West Virginia in 1874, serving again from 1875 to 1877. Afterward, he resumed practicing law until his death.^[12]

Death

Charles J. Faulkner died at the family estate called "Boydville" near Martinsburg, West Virginia on November 1, 1884. Faulkner was interred in the family cemetery on the estate.

References

Bibliography

• "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 - Present". bioguide.congress.gov. United States Congress. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
• Krick, Robert E. L. (2003). Staff Officers in Gray: A Biographical Register of the Staff Officers in the Army of Northern Virginia. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-8078-2788-8.
• Pulliam, David Loyd (1901). The Constitutional Conventions of Virginia from the foundation of the Commonwealth to the present time. John T. West, Richmond. ISBN 978-1-2879-2059-5.

External links

• United States Congress. "Charles J. Faulkner (id: F000044)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2008-02-13
• "Charles J. Faulkner". Find a Grave. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
•  "Faulkner, Charles James". Encyclopedia Americana. 1920.
• Obituary of Charles J Faulkner
• Finding Aid for Carter/Faulkner Family Collection in the WV State Archives, 1776-1991

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov.