Representative Posey Green Lester

Posey Green Lester (March 12, 1850 – February 9, 1929) was a Democratic U.S. Representative from Virginia who served two terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1889 to 1893. His congressional career took place during a significant period in American history, and he participated actively in the legislative process while representing the interests of his constituents in Virginia.

Lester was born near the town of Floyd, in Floyd County, Virginia, on March 12, 1850. He attended the common schools of the area and continued his education at the Jacksonville graded school at Floyd. Raised in a rural community in the post–Civil War South, his early life and education were rooted in the local institutions of his home county, which shaped both his later vocation as a teacher and his long-standing commitment to religious and public service.

Before entering national politics, Lester engaged in teaching in Floyd County, Virginia. In addition to his work in education, he pursued a religious calling and was ordained a minister in the Primitive, or Old-School, Baptist Church in 1876. His ministry placed him in close contact with the communities of southwestern Virginia and helped establish his reputation as a spiritual and community leader. In 1883 he expanded his religious work into publishing when he became associate editor of Zion’s Landmark, a Primitive Baptist church paper published at Wilson, North Carolina, a role that increased his influence within his denomination and among like-minded congregations.

Lester entered national public life as a member of the Democratic Party. In the 1888 election he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 52.5 percent of the vote, defeating Republican John D. Blackwell. He took his seat in the Fifty-first Congress on March 4, 1889. He was reelected in 1890 to the Fifty-second Congress with 82.07 percent of the vote, defeating Independent candidates S. C. Adams and J. Ring. Serving from March 4, 1889, to March 3, 1893, Lester contributed to the legislative process during two consecutive terms in office. As a member of the House of Representatives, he participated in the democratic process at the federal level and represented the interests of his Virginia constituents during a time of political and economic transition in the post-Reconstruction South.

After serving in Congress, Lester chose not to be a candidate for renomination in 1892 and returned to his earlier religious vocation. He resumed his ministerial duties in Floyd, Virginia, continuing his work as a Primitive Baptist minister and maintaining his ties to the local community. His involvement in religious journalism also continued to develop; having long served as associate editor of Zion’s Landmark, he later became editor in chief of that publication in 1920, further solidifying his standing as a leading voice within the Primitive Baptist Church.

In 1921 Lester moved from Floyd to Roanoke, Virginia, where he accepted the pastorate of the Primitive Baptist Church in that city. He served as pastor there until his death, remaining active in both pastoral work and religious discourse into his later years. Posey Green Lester died in Roanoke on February 9, 1929. He was interred in Evergreen Cemetery, leaving a legacy that combined public service in the United States Congress with a long and influential career in ministry and religious publishing.