William F. Slemons Explained

William F. Slemons
State1:Arkansas
Term Start1:March 4, 1875
Term End1:March 3, 1881
Predecessor1:Oliver P. Snyder
Successor1:James K. Jones
Birth Name:William Ferguson Slemons
Birth Date:15 March 1830
Birth Place:Dresden, Tennessee, U.S.
Death Place:Monticello, Arkansas, U.S.
Party:Democratic
Alma Mater:Bethel College
Allegiance:Confederate States
Branch:Army
Branch Label:Branch
Serviceyears:1861–1865
Rank:Colonel
Unit:2d Arkansas Cavalry
Battles:American Civil War

William Ferguson Slemons (March 15, 1830  - December 10, 1918) was a U.S. Representative from Arkansas.

Biography

Born in Dresden, Tennessee, Slemons attended Bethel College.He moved to Arkansas in 1852.He studied law, including at Cumberland University.[1] He was admitted to the bar in 1855 and practiced in Monticello, Drew County.He served as member of the Arkansas State convention in 1861.He entered the Confederate States Army in July 1861 and served as colonel of the 2d Arkansas Cavalry in Price's Cavalry during the Civil War. In the Fall of 1864, while fighting in Kansas, Slemons had his horse shot out from under him, and he and a large part of his regiment were captured. For the remainder of the war, he was held captive by Union forces.He resumed the practice of law. He served as district attorney 1866-1868.

Slemons was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth, and Forty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1881).He was not a candidate for renomination in 1880.He resumed the practice of his profession in Monticello.County and probate judge of Drew County 1903-1907.He was in the Justice of the Peace 1908-1918.He died in Monticello, December 10, 1918 and was interred in Union Ridge Cemetery, near Monticello.

Sources

Retrieved on 2008-02-14

Notes and References

  1. Web site: William Ferguson Slemons. 2022-02-01. Encyclopedia of Arkansas. en-US.