John Strother Pendleton (March 1, 1802 – November 19, 1868), nicknamed"The Lone Star", was a nineteenth-century congressman, diplomat, lawyer and farmer fromVirginia.^[1]

Born nearCulpeper, Virginia, Pendleton studied with private tutors and at Cloverdale Academy,^[2] then read law. He married Lucy Ann Williams, the daughter of James and Elizabeth Bruce Williams, on December 2, 1824, at "Soldiers Rest" inOrange County, Virginia. During the 1820s, he resided at theSlaughter-Hill House, listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1989.^[3][4] The two had nobiological children, but adopted Lucy's brother Philip's son, George Morton Williams, when he was three years old.

After admission to the Virginia bar in 1824, Pendleton began his legal practice inCulpeper County, Virginia. Culpeper's voters elected Pendleton as their representative to theVirginia House of Delegates from 1831 to 1833, and not long afterRappahannock County, Virginia was created from part of Culpeper County, Rappahannock County voters selected him to represent them from 1836 to 1839.^[5]

PresidentJohn Tyler, a fellow Whig from Virginia, appointed PendletonChargé d'Affaires to Chile in 1841, and he served until 1844 when he was elected aWhig to theUnited States House of Representatives. He was re-elected once, and served from 1845 to 1849. In the House, Pendleton obtained the nickname "The Lone Star" because he was the only Whig fromVirginia.

Pendleton returned to his diplomatic career, as PresidentMillard Fillmore appointed himChargé d'Affaires to the Argentine Confederation in 1851. He served until 1854 and in 1852 also served asMinister to Brazil withRobert C. Schenck to negotiate atreaty of commerce withParaguay andUruguay.

Pendleton returned to the United States and engaged in farming, but his estate was devastated by theAmerican Civil War, particularly theBattle of Cedar Mountain, such that he appeared before General Banks for permission to leave the county.^[6] However, by March 1863, he was able to extend hospitality to Confederate officers at his estate, "Redwood", after a St. Patrick's Day Party, although several would die in battles the following days including at Kelly's Ford.^[7]

Pendleton survived the war and died on November 19, 1868, nearCulpeper, Virginia.

 This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

• 1802 births
• 1868 deaths
• Members of the Virginia House of Delegates
• Virginia lawyers
• Farmers from Virginia
• Ambassadors of the United States to Argentina
• Ambassadors of the United States to Chile
• People from Culpeper, Virginia
• Politicians from Culpeper County, Virginia
• 19th-century American diplomats
• Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia
• 19th-century American lawyers
• Pendleton family
• 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives
• 19th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly

• Articles using NRISref without a reference number
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress