Samuel McClary Fite

Samuel McClary Fite (b. June 12, 1816 - d. October 23, 1875) was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for Tennessee's 4th congressional district. He was a presidential elector on the Whig ticket in 1852.

Biography

Samuel McClary Fite was born on June 12, 1816 near Alexandria, Tennessee in Smith County. He attended the common and private schools and graduated from Clinton College in Tennessee. Fite studied law in Lebanon, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Carthage, Tennessee.

By 1850, Samuel Fite was a member of the Tennessee Senate. In 1852 at the age of 36, Fite was placed on the Whig ticket as a presidential elector. From 1858 to 1861, Fite was a judge of the sixth judicial district. He resumed the practice of law in Carthage, Tennessee. He was appointed on July 24, 1869 to be the judge of the sixth judicial district to fill a vacancy. Fite later was elected to the same position on January 8, 1870, and he served until 1874.

In 1875, Fite was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fourth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John W. Head. He served from March 4, 1875 until his death at Hot Springs, Arkansas on October 23, 1875, before the assembling of Congress. Fite was interred in Carthage Cemetery in Carthage, Tennessee, then reinterred in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee in 1908.

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