John Humphrey Small (August 29, 1858 – July 13, 1946) was an American attorney and politician who served eleven terms as 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

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

from 1899 to 1921.

Early life and education

Born in

Washington, North Carolina Washington is a city in Beaufort County, North Carolina, United States, located on the northern bank of the Pamlico River. The population was 9,744 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Beaufort County. It is commonly known as "Original W ...

, Small attended private schools and Trinity College (later Duke University), Durham, North Carolina, where he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity. He taught school from 1876 to 1880 and studied law as a legal apprentice. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1881.

Career

Small started a legal practice in his hometown of Washington, North Carolina. Small was elected a reading clerk of the North Carolina State Senate in 1881, the year he was admitted to the bar. That year he was also appointed as superintendent of public instruction of Beaufort County. He was elected as solicitor of the

inferior court A lower court or inferior court is a court from which an Appeal (law), appeal may be taken, usually referring to courts other than supreme court. In relation to an appeal from one court to another, the lower court is the court whose decision is ...

of Beaufort County 1882–1885. At the time, he also became editor of the ''Washington Gazette'', serving from 1883 to 1886. He was appointed as attorney of the Board of Commissioners of Beaufort County, serving from 1888 to 1896. At the same time, Small was elected as a member of the Washington city council 1887–1890. He served as mayor of Washington in 1889 and 1890 (the position rotated among the city council members). Active in the Democratic Party, Small served as delegate to all Democratic State conventions from 1889 to 1920.

Congress

Small 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 Fifty-sixth and to the ten succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1899 – March 3, 1921) from

North Carolina's 1st congressional district North Carolina's 1st congressional district is located in the northeastern part of the state. It consists of many Black Belt counties that border Virginia and it extends southward into several counties of the Inner Banks and the Research Trian ...

. He served as chairman of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors ( Sixty-fifth Congress).

Later career

He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1920 and retired from political office. Staying in Washington, D.C., he revived his legal practice there until 1931.

Retirement and death

Small returned to Washington, where he died on July 13, 1946. He was interred in Oakdale Cemetery. He inherited Rosedale Plantation and it was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1982.

References

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Small, John Humphrey 1858 births 1946 deaths Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina Mayors of places in North Carolina North Carolina city council members People from Washington, North Carolina