Stedman, Charles Manly, 1841-1930

Charles Manly Stedman (1841-1930) represented the Fifth North Carolina congressional district in the United States House, 1911-1930, and was the last Civil War veteran in Congress. Stedman was born in Pittsboro, N.C., the son of Nathan A. Stedman, a merchant, and Euphania White Stedman of Virginia. He was educated at an academy at Fayetteville, N.C., and at the University of North Carolina, from which he graduated in 1861. He enlisted in the Confederate Army and was present at the battle of Bethel, Va., in June 1861, and remained on active duty with the Army of Northern Virginia until the end of the war, rising to be major of the 44th North Carolina Regiment, and being wounded three times.

After the war Stedman taught school for a while and then studied law, which he later practiced in Wilmington, Asheville, and Greensboro, N.C. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, 1880; lieutenant-governor of North Carolina, 1885-1889; and an unsucessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor in 1888 and 1904. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives for the district around Greensboro from 1911 until his death in 1930. He was a member of the House committee on foreign affairs; a trustee of the University of North Carolina, 1899-1915; president of the North Carolina Railroad, 1909-1910; and a director of the Guilford Battleground Park, which he was instrumental in promoting, 1898-1917. He married Katherine DeRosset Wright of Wilmington, N.C.