Anselm Joseph McLAURIN, Congress, MS (1848-1909)

McLAURIN, Anselm Joseph, a Senator from Mississippi; born in Brandon, Rankin County, Miss., March 26, 1848; moved with his parents to Smith County; attended the common schools and Summerville Institute; during the Civil War enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1864 and served as captain; again attended the Summerville Institute 1865-1867; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1868 and began practice in Raleigh, Miss.; district attorney 1871-1875; member, State house of representatives 1879; presidential elector on the Democratic ticket in 1888; delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1890; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Edward C. Walthall and served from February 7, 1894, to March 3, 1895; Governor of Mississippi 1896-1900; again elected in 1900 to the United States Senate; reelected in 1906 and served from March 4, 1901, until his death; appointed a member of the United States Immigration Commission in 1908, serving until his death in Brandon, Miss., December 22, 1909; interment in Brandon Cemetery.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Faries, Clyde J. “Redneck Rhetoric and the Last of the Redeemers: The 1899 McLaurin-Allen Campaign.” Journal of Missouri History 33 (November 1971): 283-98.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present