William K. Cessna Explained

William K. Cessna was a Union Army officer, state legislator,[1] and judge in the United States. He served as an officer with a colored regiment from Pennsylvania during the American Civil War.[2] He served in Florida during the Civil War and settled there afterwards. He employed Josiah T. Walls in a lumber business.[3] [4] A Republican,[5] he lived in Gainesville and served in the Florida House of Representatives for Alachua County in 1871 and 1872.[6]

He was a signatory to the 1868 Florida Constitution.[7] [8] He made a motion to adopt a report that would have removed Liberty Billings, Charles H. Pearce and William Saunders from the convention. It failed to pass.[9]

The governor appointed him a judge. He gave testimony in a hearing about an election.[10] In 1874 he reported on agricultural conditions in Alachua County.[11]

He chaired the committee preparing articles of impeachment against Harrison Reed.[12] 1873 appointed Major and assistant quartermaster.[13] He was accused of corruption by Democrats disparaging of "Carpetbag Rule".[12] One account identified him as politically "rabid".[14] He served as Alachua County Schools superintendent.[15] Democrats filed accusations of corruption against him when he was in the legislature.[16]

In 1878 U. S. President Rutherford B. Hayes nominated him to bepostmaster at Gainesville in Alachua County.[17]

He was the editor and publisher of the Social Visitor in Jacksonville.[18]

Cessna was also a farmer growing a variety of crops such as beans, tomatoes and strawberries that he sold not just to Florida but also much further north.[19] He grew strawberries on several acres of land and was accused of selling them without paying tax on the sales.[20] He was the first vice-president of the Fruit Growers' Association.[21]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Journal . 1872 .
  2. Book: History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5 . 1871 . B. Singerly, state printer .
  3. Book: Florida's Black Public Officials, 1867-1924 . 9780817309152 . 1998 . University of Alabama Press .
  4. Book: Southern Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Era . 9780252009297 . 1982 . University of Illinois Press .
  5. Book: Reports of Committees: 30th Congress, 1st Session - 48th Congress, 2nd Session . 1877 .
  6. https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/FileStores/Web/HouseContent/Approved/Public%20Guide/Uploads/Documents/historical_records.pdf
  7. Book: Florida: Message from the President of the United States : Transmitting Papers Relating to Proceedings in the State of Florida . 1868 .
  8. https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/189095?id=36
  9. Book: Blacks, Carpetbaggers, and Scalawags: The Constitutional Conventions of Radical Reconstruction . 9780807134702 . October 2008 . LSU Press .
  10. Book: Testimony Taken Before the Special Committee on Investigation of the Election in Florida: Proceedings . 1877 . U.S. Government Printing Office .
  11. Book: Florida: Its Climate, Soil, and Productions: With a Sketch of Its History, Natural Features and Social Condition: A Manual of Reliable Information Concerning the Resources of the State and the Inducements to Immigrants . 1869 . E. M. Cheney .
  12. Book: Carpet Bag Rule in Florida: The Inside Workings of the Reconstruction of Civil Government in Florida After the Close of the Civil War . 1888 . Da Costa printing and publishing house .
  13. Book: A Journal of the Proceedings of the Senate of the State of Florida at the ... Session of the Legislature . 1873 . The State .
  14. Book: Annual Report, Superintendent of Public Instruction, State of Florida . 1892 . The Department. .
  15. Book: Report of the Commissioner of Education: For the year ended June 30, ... 1873 (1874) . 1874 . U.S. Government Printing Office .
  16. Book: The American Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year . 1884 . D. Appleton .
  17. Book: Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States . 1901 .
  18. Book: N. W. Ayer & Son's American Newspaper Annual . 1892 . N.W. Ayer and Son .
  19. News: Judge W. K. Cessna selling beans and tomatoes . 14 November 2022 . Pensacola Commercial . 21 May 1888 . 1.
  20. News: Judge W. K. Cessna . 14 November 2022 . Pensacola Commercial . 25 March 1882 . 1.
  21. News: Fruit Growers' Association . 14 November 2022 . The Florida Agriculturist . 26 February 1879 . 4.

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