Ed Lee Gossett (January 27, 1902 – November 6, 1990) was a

U.S. Representative 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Born in a sawmill camp known as

Yellow Pine In ecology and forestry, yellow pine refers to a number of conifer species that tend to grow in similar plant communities and yield similar strong wood. In the Western United States, yellow pine refers to Jeffrey pine or ponderosa pine. In the S ...

, near Many,

Sabine Parish, Louisiana Sabine Parish ( French: ''Paroisse de la Sabine'') is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 24,233. The seat of the parish is Many. Sabine was one of five parishes created in as many weeks ...

, Gossett moved to Texas in 1908 with his parents, who settled on a farm near Henrietta, Clay County and attended the rural schools of Clay and Garza Counties, Texas. He graduated from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, A.B., 1924 and the law school of the same university, LL.B., 1927. He was admitted to the bar the latter year and commenced practice in

Vernon, Texas Vernon is a city and the county seat of Wilbarger County, Texas, United States. and as of the 2010 Census had a population of 11,002. History The original town was called Eagle Springs by the indigenous community as early as 1858. After the ...

. He moved to

Wichita Falls, Texas Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. Accordin ...

, in 1937 and continued the practice of law. He served as district attorney of the forty-sixth judicial district 1933-1937. Gossett was 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 Seventy-sixth and to the six succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1939, until his resignation on July 31, 1951. He served as chairman of the Committee on Elections No. 2 (Seventy-seventh through Seventy-ninth Congresses). According to his 1944 letterhead, he also served on the following committees as a member: Census, Territories, Insular Affairs, Revision of the Laws, and Immigration and Naturalization. He resumed the practice of law and was general attorney for the Texas Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. He served as judge of Criminal District Court,

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, until his death on November 6, 1990.

References

External links

Ed Gossett speech extensively quoted in "The Electoral College Will Destroy America" by Jesse Wegman, New York Times, September 8, 2020
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gossett, Ed Lee 1902 births 1990 deaths Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas 20th-century American politicians University of Texas School of Law alumni