Library of Congress

POOL, John, (uncle of Walter Freshwater Pool), a Senator from North Carolina; born near Elizabeth City, Pasquotank County, N.C., June 16, 1826; was tutored at home and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1847; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1847 and practiced in Elizabeth City, N.C., 1847-1856; also engaged in agricultural pursuits; member, State senate 1856, 1858, 1864-1865; unsuccessful Whig candidate for governor in 1860; delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1865; presented credentials dated December 29, 1865, as a Republican Senator-elect to the United States Senate on February 8, 1866, but was not permitted to take his seat because the State had not been readmitted to representation; upon the readmission of North Carolina was again elected to the United States Senate and served from July 14, 1868, to March 3, 1873; was not a candidate for reelection; chairman, Committee on Revolutionary Claims (Forty-second Congress); resumed the practice of law in Washington, D.C., where he died August 16, 1884; interment in Oak Hill Cemetery.