Education
Born in Madisonville, Kentucky, Metcalfe attended the common schools, Shurtleff College, Alton, Illinois, and Illinois College, Jacksonville, Illinois.
United States representative politician
Born in Madisonville, Kentucky, Metcalfe attended the common schools, Shurtleff College, Alton, Illinois, and Illinois College, Jacksonville, Illinois.
He engaged in mercantile pursuits in Alton, Illinois, in 1844. Metcalfe was elected mayor of Alton. During the Civil War served in the Union Army as assistant quartermaster with rank of captain and later promoted to colonel.
He moved to Saint Louis, Missouri, in 1863.
He engaged in manufacturing. He served in the city council of Saint Louis.
Metcalfe was elected as a Republican to the Forty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1877-March 3, 1879). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1878 to the Forty-sixth Congress.
He died in Kirkwood, Saint Louis County, Missouri, January 31, 1906.
He was interred in Alton Cemetery. Alton, Madison County, Illinois.
He served as member of the board of aldermen of Alton.