John N. Tillman Explained

John Tillman
Office:9th President of University of Arkansas
Term Start:1905
Term End:1912
Predecessor:John H. Reynolds
Successor:John L. Buchanan
State1:Arkansas
Term Start1:March 4, 1915
Term End1:March 3, 1929
Predecessor1:John C. Floyd
Successor1:Claude A. Fuller
State Senate2:Arkansas
Term Start2:1888
Term End2:1892
Birth Date:13 December 1859
Birth Place:Springfield, Missouri, U.S.
Death Place:Fayetteville, Arkansas, U.S
Education:University of Arkansas

John Newton Tillman (December 13, 1859 – March 9, 1929) was a U.S. Representative from Arkansas. In the Arkansas State Senate he proposed the Separate Coach Law of 1891, a Jim Crow law to segregate African American passengers. The bill became law.[1]

Born near Springfield, Missouri, Tillman attended the common schools, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1880. He taught school while studying law, and was admitted to the bar in 1883, commencing practice in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He served as clerk of the circuit court of Washington County from 1884 to 1889, and served in the Arkansas State Senate from 1888 to 1892.

From 1892 to 1898, he served as prosecuting attorney of the fourth judicial circuit, and served as judge of the same circuit court from 1900 to 1905. He served as president of the University of Arkansas from 1905 to 1912.

Tillman was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-fourth and to the six succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1915 – March 3, 1929). He was one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1926 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against George W. English, judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois.

Tillman did not seek renomination in 1928. He died in Fayetteville, Arkansas on March 9, 1929, and was interred in Evergreen Cemetery.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Encyclopedia of Arkansas.