William Embre Gaines (Congressional Biographical Directory)

GAINES, William Embre, a Representative from Virginia; born near Charlotte Court House, Charlotte County, Va., August 30, 1844; attended the common schools; during the Civil War enlisted as a private in Company K, Eighteenth Virginia Regiment (Pickett’s division); reenlisted in the Army of the Cape Fear, and surrendered with Johnston, near Greensboro, N.C., in April 1865, having attained the rank of adjutant of Manly’s artillery battalion; studied law; was admitted to the bar and practiced; engaged in the tobacco business and banking at Burkeville, Va.; member of the State senate from 1883 to 1887, when he resigned; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1884; mayor of Burkeville; delegate to several State conventions; elected as a Republican to the Fiftieth Congress (March 4, 1887-March 3, 1889); was not a candidate for renomination in 1888; died in Washington, D.C., May 4, 1912; interment in Glenwood Cemetery.