William Stanley WEST, Congress, GA (1849-1914)

WEST, William Stanley, a Senator from Georgia; was born near Buena Vista, Marion County, Ga., on August 23, 1849; moved with his parents to Lowndes (now Brooks) County, Ga.; attended the country schools and preparatory schools at Lookout Mountain, Tenn., and Penfield, Ga.; taught school; graduated from the law department of Mercer University, Macon, Ga., in 1876 and from the literary department in 1880; admitted to the bar in 1876, and commenced practice in Statenville, Ga.; moved to Valdosta, Lowndes County, Ga.; engaged as a planter and millman; member, State house of representatives 1892-1901; member, State senate 1901-1906, serving as president 1905-1906; chairman of the board of trustees of South Georgia State Normal College at Valdosta and ex officio member of the board of trustees of the University of Georgia at Athens; appointed to the United States Senate on March 2, 1914, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Augustus O. Bacon and served from March 2, to November 3, 1914, when a successor was elected and qualified; chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Post Office Department (Sixty-third Congress); resumed his occupation as planter and lumberman; died in Valdosta, Ga., on December 22, 1914; interment in Sunset Hill Cemetery.

Bibliography

Mellichamp, Josephine. “William S. West.” In Senators From Georgia, pp. 208-11. Huntsville, Ala.: Strode Publishers, 1976.

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