William James SAMFORD, Congress, AL (1844-1901)

SAMFORD, William James, a Representative from Alabama; born in Greenville, Meriwether County, Ga., September 16, 1844; moved in early childhood with his parents to Chambers County, Ala.; attended a private school in Auburn, Ala., and the University of Georgia at Athens in 1860; enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1862 as a private in the Forty-sixth Alabama Regiment; promoted to first lieutenant and was in command of a company at the close of the war; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1867 and commenced practice in Opelika, Lee County, Ala., in 1867; delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1875; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1879-March 3, 1881); was not a candidate for renomination in 1880; again resumed the practice of his profession; member of the State house of representatives in 1882; served in the State senate 1884-1886 and in 1892 and was its president in 1886; Governor of Alabama in 1900 and 1901; president of the board of trustees of the University of Alabama; died in Tuscaloosa, Ala., June 11, 1901; interment in Rosemere Cemetery, Opelika, Ala.

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