Washington Curran WHITTHORNE, Congress, TN (1825-1891)

WHITTHORNE, Washington Curran, a Representative and a Senator from Tennessee; born near Farmington, Marshall County, Tenn., April 19, 1825; attended the common schools, an academy in Arrington, Williamson County, and Campbell Academy, Lebanon, Tenn.; graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1843; studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1845 at Columbia, Maury County, Tenn.; served as auditor’s clerk and in other local government positions until 1848, when he commenced the practice of law in Columbia, Tenn.; member, State senate 1855-1858; member, State house of representatives, and speaker in 1859; presidential elector on the Breckinridge and Lane ticket in 1860; during the Civil War served as assistant adjutant general in the provisional army of Tennessee in 1861 and in the Confederate service as adjutant general of the State 1861-1865; his political disabilities were removed by act of Congress in 1870; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-second and to the five succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1871-March 3, 1883); chairman, Committee on Naval Affairs (Forty-fourth through Forty-sixth Congresses); appointed and subsequently elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Howell E. Jackson and served from April 16, 1886, to March 3, 1887; elected to the Fiftieth and Fifty-first Congresses (March 4, 1887-March 3, 1891); died in Columbia, Tenn., September 21, 1891; interment in Rose Hill Cemetery.

Bibliography

McKellar, Kenneth. “Washington Curran Whitthorne,” in Tennessee Senators as Seen by One of Their Successors. Kingsport, Tenn.: Southern Publishers, Inc., 1942, 416-425.

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