Charles Bryson Simonton (September 8, 1838 – June 10, 1911) was an American politician and a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

for the 9th congressional district of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Biography

Simonton was born in

Tipton County, Tennessee Tipton County is a county located on the western end of the U.S. state of Tennessee, in the Mississippi Delta region. As of the 2020 census, the population was 60,970. Its county seat is Covington. Tipton County is part of the Memphis, TN-MS- ...

, son of William and Catherine "Katie" Ferguson Simonton. He graduated from Erskine College in Due West,

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

in August 1859. He married Mary Andros "Minnie" McDill on October 16, 1866. He had five children, Anna Simonton, Ella Simonton, William McDill Simonton, Charles Pressley Simonton, and Nannie May Simonton.

Career

Simonton enlisted as a private in Company C, Ninth Tennessee Infantry,

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

in 1861. He subsequently became

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

, and then

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. He was severely wounded during the Battle of Perryville on October 8, 1862 and disabled from any further active duty during the war. He was elected clerk of the circuit court of Tipton County in March 1870. Simonton

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

, and was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in 1873. He then commenced practice in Covington, Tennessee in Tipton County. He was also a member of the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

from 1877 to 1879. He became the editor of the ''Tipton Record'' in Covington, Tennessee. Elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the Forty-sixth and Forty-seventh Congresses, Simonton served from March 4, 1879 to March 3, 1883. He was chairman of the Democratic state convention in 1886. Simonton was president of the Covington city school board from 1892 to 1903. He was the

United States district attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the Western district of Tennessee from 1895 to 1898.

Death

Simonton died in Covington, Tennessee, and is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

at Munford Cemetery.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Simonton, Charles Bryson Democratic Party members of the Tennessee House of Representatives 1838 births 1911 deaths Erskine College alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee 19th-century American legislators American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law United States Attorneys for the Western District of Tennessee 19th-century Tennessee politicians