William Crosby Dawson
Encyclopedia
William Crosby Dawson was a lawyer, judge, politician, and soldier from Georgia
.
, Greene County
, Georgia, January 4, 1798. His parents were George Dawson, Sr. and Katie Ruth Marston Skidmore.
After taking an academic course from the Rev. Dr. Cumming, Dawson attended the county academy in Greensboro, and then was graduated from Franklin College
, Athens
, Clarke County
, Georgia, in 1816 at the age of eighteen. He then studied law for a year in the office of the Hon. Thomas W. Cobb
, at Lexington
, Oglethorpe County
, Georgia, and then in the Litchfield Law School
of Judges Tapping Reeve
and James Gould
at Litchfield, Connecticut
. In 1818, he was admitted to the bar and practiced in Greensboro where he was a successful jury lawyer
. He was known for his ability to settle cases out of court.
In 1819 he married Henrietta M. Wingfield. They had eight children. He became a widower in 1850 and in 1854 married Eliza M. Williams of Memphis, Tennessee.
Dawson was elected as one of the vice presidents of the Alumni Society of the University of Georgia at its first meeting, on August 4, 1834.
in 1821 and served twelve years in that post. From 1828, he compiled Dawson's Digest of Laws of Georgia, published in 1831.
From 1834 to 1835 he served as a state Senator.
In 1836 he was Captain of Volunteers under General Winfield Scott
in the Creek and Seminole Indian War in Florida
.
Dawson was then elected as a States' Rights candidate to the United States House of Representatives
for the 24th United States Congress
to fill the vacancy caused by the death of General John E. Coffee
, taking office on December 26, 1836, then re-elected as a Whig to the 25th
, 26th
, and 27th
Congresses. He served from November 7, 1836, to November 13, 1841.
He was the Whig candidate for Governor of Georgia in 1841 but was defeated by Charles James McDonald
. He saw his defeat as gubernatorial candidate as disapproval of his congressional service, particularly his vote earlier in the year to tax coffee and tea, and so resigned from Congress.
During his service in the United States House, he chaired the Committee on Mileage (25th Congress), the Committee on Claims (26th Congress), and the Committee on Military Affairs (27th Congress).
He was appointed by Governor George W. Crawford
to fill a vacancy as Judge of the Ocmulgee Circuit Court in 1845 but declined being a candidate for the bench at the completion of his term.
Dawson was elected in November, 1847 as the Whig candidate for Georgia's Class 3 seat in the United States Senate
for the 31st
, 32nd
, and 33rd
Congresses, serving from March 4, 1849, to March 3, 1855. Dawson supported the compromises that preserved the union in 1850
. He chaired the Committee on Private Land Claims (32nd Congress) and presided over the Southern convention at Memphis
in 1853.
He was twice a delegate to the convention to amend the U.S. Constitution.
of the Grand Lodge
of Free and Accepted Masons
in Georgia on November 8, 1843 and served in that capacity until his death in 1856. While in Congress, he was active in local Freemasonry. The Dawson Lodge in Washington, D.C. and the Dawson Lodge in Social Circle, Georgia were named for him.
Because of his elegant manners, he was called "the first gentleman of Georgia" by Joseph Henry Lumpkin
.
Joshua Reed Giddings
described him: "He was a man of much suavity of manner; one of that class of
Southern statesmen who felt it necessary to carry every measure by the influence of personal kindness, and an expression of horror at all agitation of the slave question, under the apprehension that it might
dissolve the Union."
Dawson County
, Georgia, and the county seat, Dawsonville
, were named for William Crosby Dawson. The county was created by a legislative act on December 3, 1857, primarily out of Lumpkin County and small parts of Gilmer
, Pickens
and Forsyth
counties. Dawson, the county seat of Terrell County
, Georgia was incorporated on December 22, 1857 and named for William Crosby Dawson.
Company C, 3d Regiment, Georgia Volunteer Infantry, Army of Northern Virginia
, C.S.A., from Greene County, was called the "Dawson Grays" in his honor.
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
.
Early life, education and legal career
Dawson was born in GreensboroGreensboro, Georgia
Greensboro is a town in Greene County, Georgia, United States. Its population was 3,238 at the time of the 2000 U.S. census. This town is the county seat of Greene County.-Geography:Greensboro is located at .According to the U.S...
, Greene County
Greene County, Georgia
Greene County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on February 3, 1786. As of 2000, the population is 14,406. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 15,662. The county seat is Greensboro...
, Georgia, January 4, 1798. His parents were George Dawson, Sr. and Katie Ruth Marston Skidmore.
After taking an academic course from the Rev. Dr. Cumming, Dawson attended the county academy in Greensboro, and then was graduated from Franklin College
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
, Athens
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
, Clarke County
Clarke County, Georgia
Clarke County is a county in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2000 census, the population was 101,489. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 114,063...
, Georgia, in 1816 at the age of eighteen. He then studied law for a year in the office of the Hon. Thomas W. Cobb
Thomas W. Cobb
Thomas Willis Cobb was a United States Representative and Senator from Georgia.-Biography:Born in Columbia County, Georgia, he pursued preparatory studies, and studied law. He was admitted to the bar and practiced in Lexington, Georgia...
, at Lexington
Lexington, Georgia
Lexington is a city in Oglethorpe County, Georgia, United States. The population was 239 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Oglethorpe County...
, Oglethorpe County
Oglethorpe County, Georgia
Oglethorpe County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the largest county in Northeast Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 12,635. The 2007 Census Estimate showed a population of 13,963...
, Georgia, and then in the Litchfield Law School
Litchfield Law School
The Litchfield Law School of Litchfield, Connecticut, was the first formal school offering training for the legal profession in the United States. It was established in 1784 by Tapping Reeve, who would later became the Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court...
of Judges Tapping Reeve
Tapping Reeve
Tapping Reeve was an American lawyer and law educator. In 1784, he opened the Litchfield Law School in Litchfield, Connecticut, the first school to offer a comprehensive legal curriculum in the United States....
and James Gould
James Gould (jurist)
James Gould was a jurist and an early professor at the Litchfield Law School.-Biography:...
at Litchfield, Connecticut
Litchfield, Connecticut
Litchfield is a town in and former county seat of Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States, and is known as an affluent summer resort. The population was 8,316 at the 2000 census. The boroughs of Bantam and Litchfield are located within the town...
. In 1818, he was admitted to the bar and practiced in Greensboro where he was a successful jury lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
. He was known for his ability to settle cases out of court.
In 1819 he married Henrietta M. Wingfield. They had eight children. He became a widower in 1850 and in 1854 married Eliza M. Williams of Memphis, Tennessee.
Dawson was elected as one of the vice presidents of the Alumni Society of the University of Georgia at its first meeting, on August 4, 1834.
Political and military career
He was elected Clerk of the Georgia House of RepresentativesGeorgia House of Representatives
The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly of the U.S. state of Georgia.-Composition:...
in 1821 and served twelve years in that post. From 1828, he compiled Dawson's Digest of Laws of Georgia, published in 1831.
From 1834 to 1835 he served as a state Senator.
In 1836 he was Captain of Volunteers under General Winfield Scott
Winfield Scott
Winfield Scott was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852....
in the Creek and Seminole Indian War in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
Dawson was then elected as a States' Rights candidate to the United States House of Representatives
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...
for the 24th United States Congress
24th United States Congress
-House of Representatives:During this congress one House seat was added for each of the new states of Arkansas and Michigan.-Leadership:- Senate :* President: Martin Van Buren * President pro tempore: William R. King - House of Representatives :...
to fill the vacancy caused by the death of General John E. Coffee
John E. Coffee
John E. Coffee was a military leader and a United States Congressman for the state of Georgia.-Early life:...
, taking office on December 26, 1836, then re-elected as a Whig to the 25th
25th United States Congress
-House of Representatives:-Leadership:- Senate :* President: Richard Mentor Johnson * President pro tempore: William R. King - House of Representatives :* Speaker: James K. Polk -Members:This list is arranged by chamber, then by state...
, 26th
26th United States Congress
-House of Representatives:- Leadership :- Senate :*President: Richard M. Johnson *President pro tempore: William R. King - House of Representatives :*Speaker: Robert M.T. Hunter -Members:This list is arranged by chamber, then by state...
, and 27th
27th United States Congress
The Twenty-seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1841 to March 3, 1843, during the one-month...
Congresses. He served from November 7, 1836, to November 13, 1841.
He was the Whig candidate for Governor of Georgia in 1841 but was defeated by Charles James McDonald
Charles James McDonald
Charles James McDonald was an American attorney, jurist and politician.He was born in Charleston, South Carolina and moved with his family to Hancock County, Georgia in 1794....
. He saw his defeat as gubernatorial candidate as disapproval of his congressional service, particularly his vote earlier in the year to tax coffee and tea, and so resigned from Congress.
During his service in the United States House, he chaired the Committee on Mileage (25th Congress), the Committee on Claims (26th Congress), and the Committee on Military Affairs (27th Congress).
He was appointed by Governor George W. Crawford
George W. Crawford
George Walker Crawford was a Georgia politician during the nineteenth century. He served as the 38th Governor of Georgia from 1843 to 1847 and United States Secretary of War 1849 to 1850. He was the cousin of William H...
to fill a vacancy as Judge of the Ocmulgee Circuit Court in 1845 but declined being a candidate for the bench at the completion of his term.
Dawson was elected in November, 1847 as the Whig candidate for Georgia's Class 3 seat in the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
for the 31st
31st United States Congress
The Thirty-first United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1849 to March 3, 1851, during the last 17 months...
, 32nd
32nd United States Congress
The Thirty-second United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1851 to March 3, 1853, during the third and...
, and 33rd
33rd United States Congress
The Thirty-third United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1853 to March 3, 1855, during the first two years...
Congresses, serving from March 4, 1849, to March 3, 1855. Dawson supported the compromises that preserved the union in 1850
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills, passed in September 1850, which defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War...
. He chaired the Committee on Private Land Claims (32nd Congress) and presided over the Southern convention at Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
in 1853.
He was twice a delegate to the convention to amend the U.S. Constitution.
Freemason
He was elected Grand MasterGrand Master (Masonic)
In Freemasonry a Grand Master is the leader of the lodges within his Masonic jurisdiction. He presides over a Grand Lodge, and has certain rights in the constituent lodges that form his jurisdiction....
of the Grand Lodge
Grand Lodge
A Grand Lodge, or "Grand Orient", is the usual governing body of "Craft", or "Blue Lodge", Freemasonry in a particular jurisdiction. The first Masonic Grand Lodge was established in England in 1717 as the Premier Grand Lodge of England....
of Free and Accepted Masons
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
in Georgia on November 8, 1843 and served in that capacity until his death in 1856. While in Congress, he was active in local Freemasonry. The Dawson Lodge in Washington, D.C. and the Dawson Lodge in Social Circle, Georgia were named for him.
Death and legacy
Dawson died in Greensboro on May 5, 1856, and was buried in Greensboro Cemetery with Masonic rites following a service in the Presbyterian church.Because of his elegant manners, he was called "the first gentleman of Georgia" by Joseph Henry Lumpkin
Joseph Henry Lumpkin
Joseph Henry Lumpkin was the first chief justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S. state of Georgia.-Education:...
.
Joshua Reed Giddings
Joshua Reed Giddings
Joshua Reed Giddings was an American statesman and a prominent opponent of slavery. He represented Ohio in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1838-59. He was at first a member of the Whig Party and was later a Republican.-Life:He was born at Tioga Point, now Athens, Bradford County,...
described him: "He was a man of much suavity of manner; one of that class of
Southern statesmen who felt it necessary to carry every measure by the influence of personal kindness, and an expression of horror at all agitation of the slave question, under the apprehension that it might
dissolve the Union."
Dawson County
Dawson County, Georgia
Dawson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on December 3, 1857 from Gilmer and Lumpkin counties. As of 2000, the population is 15,999. The 2007 Census Estimate showed a population of 21,484...
, Georgia, and the county seat, Dawsonville
Dawsonville, Georgia
Dawsonville is a city in Dawson County, Georgia, United States. The population was 619 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Dawson County...
, were named for William Crosby Dawson. The county was created by a legislative act on December 3, 1857, primarily out of Lumpkin County and small parts of Gilmer
Gilmer County, Georgia
Gilmer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on December 3, 1832 and was named for George Rockingham Gilmer. As of 2000, the population was 23,456. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 28,389...
, Pickens
Pickens County, Georgia
Pickens County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. The 2000 Census showed a population of 22,983. The 2007 Census Estimate showed a population of 30,488...
and Forsyth
Forsyth County, Georgia
Forsyth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. The county seat is Cumming, Georgia. Forsyth County is a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area...
counties. Dawson, the county seat of Terrell County
Terrell County, Georgia
Terrell County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. The 2000 United States Census reported the county's population at 10,970. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 10,260...
, Georgia was incorporated on December 22, 1857 and named for William Crosby Dawson.
Company C, 3d Regiment, Georgia Volunteer Infantry, Army of Northern Virginia
Army of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...
, C.S.A., from Greene County, was called the "Dawson Grays" in his honor.
Further reading
- American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Mellichamp, Josephine. “William Dawson.” In Senators From Georgia, pp. 127–30. Huntsville, Ala.: Strode Publishers, 1976. ISBN 0-87397-082-9