Burgess Sidney Gaither

Background

Burgess Gaither was born on March 16, 1807, in Iredell County, North Carolina, United States. His parents were Burgess and Amelia Martin Gaither. His father was a politician who died in 1819, leaving ten children.

Education

Gaither attended Hull's High School and Franklin College (later the University of Georgia).

Career

Burgess Sidney Gaither was admitted to the North Carolina bar in 1829. He served as a clerk of the Burke County, North Carolina, Superior Court and was a delegate to the state constitutional convention of 1835 before being named that same year superintendent of the federal mint at Charlotte, North Carolina.

Gaither was elected to the state Senate in 1840 and reelected in 1844 when he served as president of the Senate. From 1844 to 1848, he was the solicitor of the Seventh Judicial District. A unionist Whig in 1851, Gaither campaigned for John Bell in 1860 in western North Carolina. From 1862 to 1865 Burgess served as a Representative from North Carolina in the Confederate Congress.

After the war, Gaither returned to his law practice and held no further public office.

Achievements

• Burgess Sidney Gaither was a member of the North Carolina state senate in 1844. During the Civil War, he distinguished himself as a Representative from North Carolina in the Confederate Congress.

Religion

Burgess was a member of the Presbyterian church.

Politics

Gaither was a unionist Whig in 185. He was a strong supporter of the South during the war and he ably represented the Ninth Confederate Congressional District in both permanent Confederate Houses, where he generally voted against the Davis administration. However, he supported congressional war measures and opposed the North Carolina unionists. While he was a personal friend of President Davis, he disliked Davis's secretiveness. He opposed extending conscription and served on the Conference, Impressments, Judiciary, Naval Affairs, and special committees.

Connections

Burgess was married twice. First, he married Elizabeth Sharpe Erwin on July 3, 1830. Then, he married Sarah F. Corpening in 1871.

Father:

Burgess Gaither

Mother:

Amelia Martin Gaither

late wife:

Elizabeth Sharpe Erwin Gaither

1804-1859

Wife:

Sarah F. Corpening Gaither

1850-1911

Son:

Alfred Haywood Gaither

1833-1861

Son:

William Haywood Gaither

Daughter:

Delia Emma Gaither

Son:

Burgess Sidney Gaither

References

• Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy
  1977