Meredith Poindexter Gentry

Meredith Poindexter Gentry (September 15, 1809 – November 2, 1866) was an American politician who represented Tennessee's eighth and seventh districts in the United States House of Representatives. Biography Gentry was born in Rockingham County, North Carolina,the son of Watson and Theodosia Poindexter Gentry. He moved with his parents to Williamson County, Tennessee, in 1813. He completed preparatory studies, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Franklin, Tennessee. He owned slaves, as did 40 out of 106 congressmen at the time he was a representative. He first married Emily Saunders, with whom he had two daughters, Mary and Emily. With his second wife, Caledonia Brown, he had two sons, Albert and Charles. Career Gentry was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1835 to 1839. He was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Congresses for the eighth district of Tennessee. He served from March 4, 1839, to March 3, 1843. Because of the death of his wife, he refused to be a candidate for renomination in 1842. Again, Gentry was elected to the Twenty-ninth and the three succeeding Congresses for the seventh district, after the electoral districts Tennessee held had been reduced and reapportioned. He again served as a Whig. During the Thirtieth Congress, he was the chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Indian Affairs. He served from March 4, 1845 to March 3, 1853, and was not a candidate for renomination in 1852.