Philemon T. Herbert

Philemon Thomas Herbert (November 1, 1825 – July 23, 1864) was an American politician best known for killing a waiter who refused to serve him breakfast. He served as the Democratic U.S. Representative from California. He represented the California Second District in the 34th Congress from 1855 to 1857.

Herbert was born on November 1, 1825, in Pine Apple, Alabama.

Herbert joined the Democratic Party. He served two terms in the California State Assembly, representing Mariposa County, California. From 1855 to 1857, he represented California's Second District in the 34th Congress of the United States House of Representatives.

In 1856, when he was refused breakfast service at Willard's Hotel in Washington because it was too late in the morning, he got into a quarrel with the Irish headwaiter, and shot and killed him. He was acquitted of manslaughter by a sympathetic jury, but abandoned his Congressional career.

In 1859, Herbert moved to El Paso, Texas, where he practiced law.

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, he joined the Confederate Army. He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and commanded the Arizona Cavalry and the 7th Texas Cavalry Regiment. He was wounded at the Battle of Mansfield on April 8, 1864.

Herbert died of his wounds on July 23, 1864. He was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Kingston, Louisiana.

• The New York Times, July 14, 1856.

• Philemon Herbert: The Colorful Life and Controversial Legacy of a 19th-Century California Congressman - Ghosts of DC history blog

• A hungry congressman didn’t get the breakfast he ordered. So he shot the waiter. - Washington Post

• An Argument in the Case of the United States Versus Philemon T. Herbert, Tried for the Murder of Thomas Keating