Williamson Simpson Oldham
Williamson Simpson Oldham, Sr. | |
---|---|
Confederate States Senator from Texas | |
In office February 18, 1862 – March 18, 1865 | |
Preceded by | New constituency |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Deputy from Texas to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States | |
In office February 4, 1861 – February 17, 1862 | |
Preceded by | New constituency |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | Franklin County, Tennessee | June 19, 1813
Died | May 8, 1868 Houston, Texas | (aged 54)
Resting place | Masonic Cemetery, Eagle Lake, Texas |
Political party | Democratic |
Williamson Simpson Oldham Sr. (June 19, 1813 – May 8, 1868) was an American politician who served in Arkansas state government, and as a Confederate States Senator from Texas from 1862 to 1865.
Biography
[edit]Born in Franklin County, Tennessee, Oldham settled at Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 1835, was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1838 and 1842. He was elected as a justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court in 1842. In 1848 he resigned to run for Congress, but was defeated, thereafter moving to Austin, Texas.[1] He represented Texas in the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1862, and was a senator in both the First and Second Confederate States congresses from 1862 to 1865. Oldham died on May 8, 1868.[2]
Legacy
[edit]Oldham County, Texas (established 1881), is named after him.
In popular culture
[edit]In Harry Turtledove's 1994 alternative history novel, Guns of the South, a "Congressman Oldham" from Texas is mentioned as sponsoring a bill to re-enslave freedmen in a victorious Confederacy. Since the setting was the time of the 2nd Confederate States Congress, it is likely that Turtledove was referring to Senator Oldham.
References
[edit]- ^ Fay Hempstead, Historical Review of Arkansas (1911), p. 452.
- ^ Williamson Simpson Oldham. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
External links
[edit]
- 1813 births
- 1868 deaths
- Justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court
- Confederate States of America senators
- Members of the Arkansas House of Representatives
- People of Texas in the American Civil War
- Signers of the Confederate States Constitution
- Signers of the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States
- Texas Democrats
- 19th-century American judges
- 19th-century members of the Arkansas General Assembly
- Texas politician stubs
- Arkansas state court judge stubs