{{short description|American politician (1795–1855)}} {{other people}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Archibald Stuart | image = ArchibaldStuart.jpg | state = Virginia | district = 7th | term = March 4, 1837 - March 3, 1839 | predecessor = Nathaniel Claiborne | successor = William L. Goggin | office1 = Member of the Virginia Senate from Henry, Patrick and Franklin Counties | term1 = 1852–1855 | predecessor1 = ''District created'' | successor1 = George Hairston | party = Democratic | birth_date = December 2, 1795 | birth_place = Lynchburg, Virginia | death_date = {{death date and age|1855|9|20|1795|12|2}} | death_place = "Laurel Hill", Patrick County, Virginia | resting_place = Saltville, Virginia | alma_mater = College of William & Mary | occupation = planter, lawyer }}

'''Archibald Stuart''' (December 2, 1795 &ndash; September 20, 1855) was a nineteenth-century politician and lawyer from Virginia. He was the first cousin of Alexander Hugh Holmes Stuart and the father of Confederate General James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart, who was the seventh of eleven children.<ref name="auto">Congressional Directory, "Archibald Stuart"</ref>

==Early life== Archibald Stuart was born in Lynchburg, Virginia to Anne Dabney Stuart and Alexander Stuart, a judge and politician who had previously served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly. Stuart received a private education suitable to his class,<ref name="auto"/> before attending the College of William & Mary from {{circa|1777}} to 1780.

==Career== He became an officer in the War of 1812, before studying to become a lawyer after the War's close . Following his admission to the Virginia bar, Stuart opened his law practice in Lynchburg, VA.<ref name="auto"/> He was elected to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-1830.<ref>Pulliam 1901, p. 81</ref>

Stuart was elected a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives in 1836, serving from 1837 to 1839. After losing reelection to Isaac Adams, Stuart resumed practicing law.<ref name="auto"/>

In 1850-51 he served in the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850.<ref>Pulliam 1901, p. 104</ref> He served to the Virginia Senate, serving from 1852 to 1854.<ref name="auto"/>

==Death and legacy== thumb|left|200px|Overview of Laurel Hill; Stuart was buried by the tree at far left

Stuart died suddenly at his home, "Laurel Hill" in Patrick County, Virginia, on September 20, 1855. He was interred in the Stuart family cemetery at Laurel Hill. His son J.E.B. Stuart, who had graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1854 to start his military career, resigned his U.S. Army commission to join the Confederate States Army, eventually commanding the Cavalry Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia with the rank of Major General before his combat-related death in 1864. In 1859, this man's widow, Elizabeth Letcher Pannill Stuart, whose ancestor William Lechter had founded the plantation and died there (killed by a Tory sympathizer in 1780) sold Laurel Hill (including the plantation house rebuilt after an 1847/8 fire) to two men from North Carolina. In 1952 the Stuart family re-interred this man's remains in Saltville (in Smyth and Washington Counties, Virginia), next to his widow, although the family members (as well as slaves) may still be interred at Laurel Hill.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/070-0060_JEB_Stuart_Birthplace_1998_Final_Nomination.pdf | title=National Register of Historic Places - Registration Form - J.E.B. Stuart Birthplace | website=www.dhr.virginia.gov}}</ref><ref name="auto"/> In 1991, Laurel Hill was preserved by the J.E.B. Stuart Birthplace Trust, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

==Electoral history==

*'''1837'''; Stuart was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 56.08% of the vote, defeating Whig Nathaniel H. Claiborne. *'''1839'''; Stuart lost his re-election bid.

==References== {{reflist}}

==Bibliography== *{{cite web | url = http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp | title = Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 - Present| last = | first = | date = | website = bioguide.congress.gov| publisher = United States Congress| access-date = January 1, 2016|ref = bioguide}}

*{{cite book |last=Pulliam |first=David Loyd |title=The Constitutional Conventions of Virginia from the foundation of the Commonwealth to the present time |publisher= John T. West, Richmond |year=1901 |isbn= 978-1-2879-2059-5 |ref=pulliam}}

==External links== {{CongBio|S001032}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Virginia | district=7 | before=Nathaniel Claiborne | after= William L. Goggin | years=1837–1839 }} {{s-end}} {{VirginiaRepresentatives07}} {{CongBio|S001032}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, Archibald}} Category:1795 births Category:1855 deaths

Category:American military personnel of the War of 1812

Category:College of William & Mary alumni Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Virginia Category:Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Category:People from Patrick County, Virginia Category:Politicians from Lynchburg, Virginia Category:Virginia lawyers Category:Democratic Party Virginia state senators Category:United States representatives who owned slaves Category:19th-century United States representatives Category:19th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly