American statesman, born in Belmont, Goochland County, VA, on the 4th of September 1793. After receiving his education he intended to go to sea, but was prevented. He served in the Virginia militia in 1813, and then went to Missouri, where he practiced law. He was made prosecuting attorney for the St. Louis circuit, and then attorney-general of Missouri. In 1822 he was sent to the legislature. In 1850, after having devoted about twenty-five years to the profession of law, he was offered the position of Secretary of War by President Fillmore, but declined. At the national Republican convention where Lincoln was nominated for the Presidency, Mr. Bates’s name received many votes. After Mr. Lincoln’s election he chose Mr. Bates for Attorney-General, which office he resigned in 1864. He died in St. Louis, MO, on the 25th of March 1869.
