Auburn Lorenzo Pridemore
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 9th district
In office
March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1879
Preceded byWilliam Terry
Succeeded byJames Richmond
Member of the Virginia Senate
In office
1871 – 1875
Preceded byGeorge H. Kendrick
Succeeded byHenry C. Slemp
Personal details
Born(1837-06-27)June 27, 1837
Scott County, Virginia, U.S.
DiedMay 17, 1900(1900-05-17) (aged 62)
Jonesville, Virginia, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
ProfessionPolitician, Lawyer
Military service
Allegiance Virginia
 Confederate States
Branch/service Virginia Militia
 Confederate States Army
Rank Colonel (CSA)
Commands21st Virginia Infantry Battalion
64th Virginia Infantry
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Auburn Lorenzo Pridemore (June 27, 1837 – May 17, 1900) was a nineteenth-century Virginia lawyer who served in the Virginia Senate and in the United States House of Representatives representing Virginia's 9th congressional district.[1]

Early and family life

Born in Scott County, Virginia on June 27, 1837 to mountain farmer Daniel Pridemore and his wife Mary Ann Ingram, Pridemore had an older brother Hiram Demothensese Pridemore (1833-1892) and a sister Sarah Eleanor Pridemore (1842-1859).[2] Despite his brother's classical name, he assisted on the family farm and received a limited education as a child.

He married Caladonia Justine Hill (daughter of a land agent in Jonesville) on February 24, 1869, but she died giving birth to their daughter Mary Ingram Pridemore Sewell (1869-1931). He lived with his in-laws, then married Lucy E. Crockett on June 27, 1875, who gave birth to Hiram Hagan Pridemore (1876-1926).[3]

Confederate military service

During the Civil War, Pridemore raised a company of volunteer infantry for the Pound Gap battalion of the Confederate Army and was commissioned as its captain on October 17, 1861. In June, 1862 he received a promotion to major. Following a reorganization after the Battle of the Cumberland Gap, his unit was reconstituted as Company S of the 64th Virginia Mounted Infantry under Colonel Campbell Slemp and Pridemore became a lieutenant colonel on December 14, 1862. He was promoted to full colonel on February 5, 1864 and commanded the 64th Virginia Cavalry until the end of the war.

Political career

Elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1865, his Confederate record under Congressional Reconstruction prevented him from taking a seat.[4] Pridemore studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1867. He began his legal practice in Jonesville, the Lee County seat.

Voters elected Pridemore to the Virginia Senate in 1871, and he served until 1875. He succeeded George H. Kendrick and was succeeded by his former subordinate CSA Captain Henry C. Slemp, who ran as a Readjuster.[5][6] The district boundaries were changed from the 1871 session, with Pridemore's native Scott County removed and added to Russell County, where John H.A. Smith was elected.

Lee County voters again elected Pridemore, as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives in 1876, where he replaced William Terry and he was re-elected once, serving from 1877 to 1879. He was defeated for re-election in 1878 and replaced by fellow ex-Confederate James Buchanan Richmond, his former subordinate. Afterwards, Pridemore continued his legal practice in Jonesville until his death there.

Death and legacy

Pridemore was interred in Hill Cemetery in Jonesville.[7]

Pridemore named the unincorporated community of Ben Hur, Virginia after the novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace.[8][9]

Referenced

  1. ↑ Virginia Biographical Encyclopedia, available online at ancestry.com
  2. ↑ the 1860 U.S. Federal Census indicates the family had a male servant, but no slave records appear online
  3. ↑ They also had an elder female boarder named Mary, probably his mother, in the 1880 U.S. Federal Census for Jonesville district 41, dwelling 34, family 36
  4. ↑ Encyclopedia of American Biography 1800-1902) p. 762
  5. ↑ Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) pp. 524, 528, 558
  6. ↑ Rose Slemp Quillen, "Col. Campbell Slemp" in Historical Sketches of Southwest Virginia, Southwest Virginia Historical Society Publication No. 6 (March 1970) p. 16
  7. ↑ Find a Grave No. 7932163
  8. ↑ Gallant, Frank K. (13 February 2020). A Place Called Peculiar: Stories About Unusual American Place-Names. Dover Publications. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-486-31081-7.
  9. ↑ Tennis, Joe (2004). Southwest Virginia Crossroads: An Almanac of Place Names and Places to See. The Overmountain Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-57072-256-1.
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