Pendleton, Edmund (1721–1803)

US jurist and revolutionary patriot. Although he did not come from a wealthy background, he led the conservatives' party in Virginia and opposed the US patriot Patrick Henry on almost every question except the goal of American freedom. He sat in the Continental Congress (1774, 1775) and was president of the Virginia convention of 1776 that called for a declaration of independence. He was Speaker of the House of Delegates (1776), president of the Virginia constitutional convention (1788), and worked for the adoption of the new federal Constitution. He served as president of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals (1779–1803).

Pendleton was born in Caroline County, Virginia. His father died the year he was born. He worked as a law clerk and was admitted to the bar in 1745.