Richard Abbay | |
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Member of the Mississippi Senate from the 34th district | |
In office January 1900 –January 1904 | |
Member of the MississippiHouseofRepresentatives from the Tunica County district | |
In office January 1896 –January 1900 | |
In office January 1888 –January 1892 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Davidson County,Tennessee | June 9,1838
Died | June 5,1919 80) Commerce,Mississippi | (aged
Political party | Democrat |
Richard Felix Abbay (June 9,1838 - June 5,1919) was an American politician and planter and a Democratic Mississippi state legislator in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Richard Felix Abbay was born in Davidson County,Tennessee,on June 9,1838. [1] [2] He was the son of Richard,a planter,and Mary (Compton) Abbay. [1] Abbay was raised in Mississippi,and received his early education in Tennessee. [1] [2] He graduated from Cumberland University in 1858. [1] He then had to go to Cuba due to poor health. [1] He was able to return to New Orleans on the last ship to enter the port before the Union blockade,the Habana . [1] After returning,Richard joined the Confederate States Army,but,after briefly serving,he had to return home (to Tunica County,Mississippi) after suffering a stroke of paralysis. [1]
Abbay read law under General James R. Chalmers and was admitted to the Tennessee bar in 1867. [1] [2] After four years,he stopped practicing law to focus on his family plantation in Tunica County,Mississippi. [1] [3] Abbay was first elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives,representing Tunica County as a Democrat in 1887 for the 1888-1890 term. [1] [4] He was re-elected (in 1889) for the 1890-1892 term. [1] Abbay also served on the 1890 Mississippi Constitutional Convention. [1] Abbay served again in the House from 1896 to 1900. [4] [5] He was elected to the Mississippi State Senate in 1899 to represent the 34th district,which composed of Mississippi's Coahoma,Quitman,and Tunica counties,from 1900 to 1904. [3] [6]
Abbay died at his home in Commerce,Mississippi, [7] on June 5,1919. [2]