William Bradley UMSTEAD, Congress, NC (1895-1954)

UMSTEAD, William Bradley, a Representative and a Senator from North Carolina; born on a farm in Mangum Township, Durham County, N.C., May 13, 1895; attended the county public schools and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1916; taught school in Kinston, N.C., in 1916 and 1917; during the First World War served as a lieutenant in the United States Army 1917-1919, with service overseas; studied law at Trinity College (now Duke University) 1919-1921; admitted to the bar in 1920 and commenced practice in Durham, N.C., in 1921; prosecuting attorney of the Durham County Recorders Court 1922-1926; solicitor of the tenth judicial district 1927-1933; member of the board of trustees of the University of North Carolina; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-third, Seventy-fourth, and Seventy-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1933-January 3, 1939); was not a candidate for renomination in 1938; resumed the practice of law in Durham, N.C.; appointed on December 18, 1946, to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Josiah W. Bailey and served from December 18, 1946, to December 30, 1948; was an unsuccessful candidate for the nomination to fill the vacancy and also for the full term; resumed the practice of law; Governor of North Carolina from January 1953 until his death in Durham, N.C., November 7, 1954; interment in Mount Tabor Church Cemetery in Mangum Township, Durham County, N.C.

Bibliography

Umstead, William. Public Addresses, Letters and Papers of William Bradley Umstead. Edited by David Leroy Corbitt. Raleigh: Council of State, State of North Carolina, 1957.

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