US Congressman, Lawyer. He was a United States Representative from the State of Virginia. A man of many talents, he was also a respected physician, lawyer, teacher, and clerk. He was born one of nine children to Captain Zedekiah Kidwell Sr. (1780-1872), and his wife Rebecca Polly Kidwell (1790-1861), in Fairfax County, Virginia, on January 4, 1814. He was educated locally and was given an English education in the local common public schools. He then studied medicine and moved with his father to Clarksburg, Virginia, now, Clarksburg, West Virginia, in 1834. He then taught school for a time and found work as a clerk in a store before he resumed his study of medicine. He attended and graduated from the prestigious Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1839, before he commenced his practice in his native Fairfax County, Virginia, from 1839 to 1849. During this time he moved to Fairmont, Virginia, now Fairmont, West Virginia, where he continued with his practice of medicine and became involved in politics. He was elected and served a term as a Member of the Virginia State House of Delegates from 1842 to 1845, and then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1849. He then was again elected and served another term as a Member of the Virginia State House of Delegates from 1849 to 1852. He also served as a Delegate to the Virginia State Constitutional Convention in 1849, 1850, and again in 1852. He also served as Presidential Elector for the Franklin Pierce (1804-1869), and William Rufus DeVane King (1786-1853), ticket in 1852. He then decided to run for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected to succeed the outgoing United States Representative Charles James Faulkner (1806-1884), on March 4, 1853. A Member of the Democratic Party, he then served two terms representing Virginia's 10th District (Thirty-Third Congress and Thirty-Fourth Congress), in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1853, to March 4, 1857. He was not a Candidate for reelection in 1856. Following his terms in the United States Congress, he was succeeded in office by the incoming United States Representative Sherrard Clemens (1820-1881), on March 4, 1857. After leaving the United States Congress, he returned to public life and he resumed his practice of medicine. He did, however, serve a term as a Member of the Virginia Board of Public Works from 1857 to 1860, before relocating to Richmond, Virginia, where he held a civil office before once again returning to his practice of law and other pursuits until his death. He passed away in Fairmont, Virginia, now Fairmont, West Virginia, on April 27, 1872, at the age of 58, and he was buried in Fairmont Cemetery in Fairmont, Virginia, now Fairmont, West Virginia. He never married nor had any children.