EDMUND

See also:

• EDMUND PENDLETON (1721—1803)
• PENDLETON, GEORGE HUNT (1825—1889)

PENDLETON (1721—1803)  , American lawyer and statesman, was born, of English Royalist descent, in Caroline county, Virginia, on the 9th of September 1721 . He was self-educated, but after reading law and being admitted to the bar (1744) his success was immediate . He served in the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1752 until the organization of the state government in 1776, was the recognized leader of the conservative Whigs, and took a leading part in opposing the British government . He was a member of the Virginia committee of correspondence in 1773, in 1774 was president of the Virginia provincial convention, and a member of the first Continental Congress . In 1776, as president of the provincial convention, which adopted a state constitution for Virginia, he drew up the instructions to the Virginia members of Congress directing them to advocate the independence of the American colonies . In the same year he became president of the Virginia committee of safety, and in October was chosen the first speaker of the House of Delegates . With Jefferson and Chancellor George Wythe he drew up a new law code for Virginia . He was president of the court of chancery in 1777—1788, and from 1779 until his death was president of the Virginia court of appeals . He was an enthusiastic advocate of the Federal constitution, and in 1788 exerted strong influence to secure its ratification by his native state . He was a leader of the Federalist party in Virginia until his death at Richmond, Va., on the 23rd of October 1803 .