US Congressman. Born in Kentucky, he moved to Missouri, read law, and was admitted to the Missouri State Bar Association in 1842. He established a law practice in Richmond, Missouri, eventually serving as prosecuting attorney for the Fifth Judicial Circuit. He was elected as a Whig to represent Missouri’s 4th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, serving two terms from 1853 to 1857. While in Congress he was a proponent of slavery, and voted for the unpopular and controversial Kansas-Nebraska Act, which acerbated the Secession crisis of the 1850s. He was not a candidate for re-election for a third term, and he returned to his law practice. Staunchly pro-Union despite being pro-slavery, after the Civil War began he served as Missouri’s Secretary of State in it’s Unionist government throughout the duration of the war. When Willard Preble Hall became Governor of Missouri in 1864, Mordecai Oliver was commissioned as a Colonel in the Missouri Militia, and served as an Aide-de-Camp to Governor Hall (who was also his son-in-law). He resided in St. Louis, Missouri after the end of the conflict, and served as a Judge of the Criminal Court there from 1889 to 1893. He eventually resided in Springfield, Missouri, where he died at age 68 in 1898.
US Congressman. Born in Kentucky, he moved to Missouri, read law, and was admitted to the Missouri State Bar Association in 1842. He established a law practice in Richmond, Missouri, eventually serving as prosecuting attorney for the Fifth Judicial Circuit. He was elected as a Whig to represent Missouri’s 4th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, serving two terms from 1853 to 1857. While in Congress he was a proponent of slavery, and voted for the unpopular and controversial Kansas-Nebraska Act, which acerbated the Secession crisis of the 1850s. He was not a candidate for re-election for a third term, and he returned to his law practice. Staunchly pro-Union despite being pro-slavery, after the Civil War began he served as Missouri’s Secretary of State in it’s Unionist government throughout the duration of the war. When Willard Preble Hall became Governor of Missouri in 1864, Mordecai Oliver was commissioned as a Colonel in the Missouri Militia, and served as an Aide-de-Camp to Governor Hall (who was also his son-in-law). He resided in St. Louis, Missouri after the end of the conflict, and served as a Judge of the Criminal Court there from 1889 to 1893. He eventually resided in Springfield, Missouri, where he died at age 68 in 1898.
Bio by: RPD2
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