Leonard Sidney Echols (October 30, 1871 – May 9, 1946) was an American politician who represented West Virginia in the United States House of Representatives from 1919 to 1923. Echols was born in

Madison, West Virginia Madison is a city and former coal town in Boone County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,911 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Boone County. History Madison was first established as Boone Court House. The town was r ...

. He attended public school. He graduated from the commercial department of the University of Kentucky at Lexington in 1894, from the Concord State Normal School,

Athens, West Virginia Athens is a town in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 944 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Bluefield, WV- VA micropolitan area which has a population of 107,578. Athens is the home of Concord University. Hist ...

in 1898, and from the law department of the Southern Normal University, Huntingdon, Tennessee in 1900. After all his formal education, he was admitted to the bar in 1900 and commenced practice in Point Pleasant, West Virginia in 1903. Echols was the prosecuting attorney of Mason County, West Virginia in 1904–09 and assistant state tax commissioner for West Virginia in 1909–19. He was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh Congresses (March 4, 1919 – March 3, 1923). While in Congress, he served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Navy (Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh Congresses). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1922 to the

Sixty-eighth Congress The 68th 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, 1923, ...

and for election in 1924 to the

Sixty-ninth Congress The 69th 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, 1925, ...

. After leaving Congress, Echols served as a member of the committee on appeals and review of the United States Treasury Department from May 1, 1923, to September 15, 1924. He was a delegate to the Republican State convention in 1924, and the postmaster at

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West Virginia, most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk River (West Virginia), Elk and Kanawha River, Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 20 ...

1925-1928. He resumed the practice of law and served as

Referee in Bankruptcy A Referee in Bankruptcy or Bankruptcy Referee was a federal official with quasi-judicial powers, appointed by a United States district court to administer bankruptcy proceedings, prior to 1979. The office was first created by the Bankruptcy Act o ...

and as special master in the United States District Court, Charleston, West Virginia. He died in Charleston, West Virginia in 1946 and was buried in Sunset Memorial Park, South Charleston, West Virginia.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Echols, Leonard S. 1871 births 1946 deaths 20th-century American lawyers Concord University alumni County prosecuting attorneys in West Virginia Politicians from Charleston, West Virginia People from Madison, West Virginia People from Point Pleasant, West Virginia United States Department of the Treasury officials University of Kentucky alumni West Virginia lawyers Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from West Virginia Lawyers from Charleston, West Virginia Southern Normal University alumni