David Browning Culberson (September 29, 1830 – May 7, 1900) was a Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 soldier, a Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 and Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Early years

Culberson was born in Troup County, Georgia

Troup County, Georgia

Troup County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2010, the population was 67,044. The county seat is LaGrange.-History:...

, on September 29, 1830, the son of David B. and Lucy (Wilkerson) Culberson. After leaving Brownwood Institute in La Grange, Georgia, he read law at Tuskegee, Alabama

Tuskegee, Alabama

Tuskegee is a city in Macon County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 11,846 and is designated a Micropolitan Statistical Area. Tuskegee has been an important site in various stages of African American history....

, in the school of William P. Chilton, Chief Justice of Alabama

Alabama Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the state of Alabama. The court consists of an elected Chief Justice and eight elected Associate Justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for staggered six year terms. The Governor of Alabama may fill vacancies when they occur...

. He was admitted to the bar in 1850 and began practice in Dadeville, Alabama

Dadeville, Alabama

Dadeville is a city in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 3,212. The city is the county seat of Tallapoosa County.Dadeville is part of the Alexander City Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

. In 1856, he moved to Texas and settled in Upshur County

Upshur County, Texas

As of the census of 2000, there were 35,291 people, 13,290 households, and 10,033 families residing in the county. The population density was 60 people per square mile . There were 14,930 housing units at an average density of 25 per square mile...

, where he practiced law in partnership with Gen. Hinche P. Mabry until 1861, when he moved to nearby Jefferson, Texas

Jefferson, Texas

Jefferson is an historic city in Marion County in northeastern Texas, United States. The population was 2,024 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Marion County, Texas, and is situated in East Texas...

. On December 8, 1852, he married Eugenia Kimball; they had two sons, one of whom, Charles A. Culberson, became Governor of Texas

Governor of Texas

The governor of Texas is the head of the executive branch of Texas's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature, and to convene the legislature...

 and later U.S. Senator. Culberson was a Mason and an Odd Fellow.

Political career and military service

Culberson was a member of the Texas Legislature

Texas Legislature

The Legislature of the state of Texas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The Legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin...

 from Upshur County during the 1859-60 session. Because Culberson opposed secession

Secession

Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...

 and his district favored it, he resigned his legislative seat. Despite his views on secession, when Texas did secede, Culberson raised the 18th Texas Infantry, and he became its commander with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel

Lieutenant Colonel (United States)

In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...

. The 18th Infantry saw combat at Vicksburg in 1862-63, but Culberson's health deteriorated and he was assigned to Austin as Adjutant General of Texas. In 1864, he was elected to the legislature from Cass, Titus, and Bowie counties and resigned his military position to rejoin the legislature.

As a prominent Jefferson lawyer he was one of the defense attorneys in the Stockade Case of 1869, and he helped defend accused murderer Abe Rothschild in the Diamond Bessie

Diamond Bessie

Diamond Bessie was the popular name given to Bessie Moore, née Annie Stone, a prostitute whose murder in the woods outside of Jefferson, Texas propelled her to the level of local legend. She was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head in the early afternoon of Sunday, January 21, 1877...

 murder trial. He worked to obtain the acquittal for treason

Treason

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...

 of the then 16-year-old William Jesse McDonald, then of Rusk County

Rusk County, Texas

As of the census of 2000, there were 47,372 people, 17,364 households, and 12,727 families residing in the county. The population density was 51 people per square mile . There were 19,867 housing units at an average density of 22 per square mile...

, the later Texas Ranger. Culberson attended the Democratic state convention in 1868 and served as a presidential elector in the Presidential Election of 1872

United States presidential election, 1872

In the United States presidential election of 1872, incumbent President Ulysses S. Grant was easily elected to a second term in office with Senator Henry Wilson of Massachusetts as his running mate, despite a split within the Republican Party that resulted in a defection of many Liberal Republicans...

 pledged to Horace Greeley

Horace Greeley

Horace Greeley was an American newspaper editor, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, a politician, and an outspoken opponent of slavery...

 (who died before Texas' electoral votes could be cast) but casting his ballot ultimately for Benjamin Gratz Brown. Culberson was elected to the State Senate in 1873 representing Marion, Cass and Bowie Counties. In 1874, he ran for Congress from the 2nd District of Texas, and won. He resigned his Senate seat to go to Washington.

In Congress

Culberson served in the United States House of Representatives from 1874–1897, supporting prohibition

Prohibition in the United States

Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...

 and opposing federal interference in state government. In 1876, he favored the repeal of the Specie Act

Specie Payment Resumption Act

Late in 1861, the United States federal government suspended specie payments, seeking to raise revenue for the American Civil War effort without exhausting its reserves of gold and silver. Early in 1862, the United States issued legal-tender notes, called greenbacks...

, and in 1888 he introduced antitrust legislation in Congress. He represented both the 2nd and later the 4th district and served as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

Though in many ways, a populist himself, Culberson campaigned against the Populist Party which was quite strong in Texas in the 1890s. Culberson viewed them as a divisive force in state politics.

Final years

He was appointed by President William McKinley

William McKinley

William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...

 on June 21, 1897, as one of the commissioners to codify the laws of the United States and served in this capacity until his death in Jefferson, Texas on May 7, 1900. He was interred in Jefferson.

A distant relation, John Culberson

John Culberson

John Abney Culberson is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party and the Tea Party caucus...

, represents the current Texas 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House.