Joseph Rush Wimberly, I (December 30, 1873 – March 11, 1943), was at the turn of the 20th century successively a member of both houses of the

Louisiana State Legislature The Louisiana State Legislature (french: Législature d'État de Louisiane) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 represen ...

from

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

, the seat of

Bienville Parish Bienville Parish (french: link=no, Paroisse de Bienville, ) is a parish located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 census, the population was 12,981. The parish seat is Arcadia. The highest natural point ...

North Louisiana North Louisiana (french: Louisiane du Nord), also known locally as Sportsman's Paradise, (a name sometimes attributed to the state as a whole) is a region in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The region has two metropolitan areas: Shreveport-Bossier Ci ...

. He served two terms in the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (french: link=no, Chambre des Représentants de Louisiane) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 repr ...

from 1900 to 1908. and a single term in the

Louisiana State Senate The Louisiana State Senate (french: Sénat de Louisiane) is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All senators serve four-year terms and are assigned to multiple committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate is compose ...

from 1908 to 1912, representing Bienville and neighboring Claiborne parishes. Wimberly served on the Education committees of both houses during his 12-year tenure. Wimberly was the youngest of eleven children of the former Francis Nix and John L. Wimberly, a planter and a native of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

who migrated westward to

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

in 1840. Rush Wimberly graduated from Arcadia High School, an entity of the

Bienville Parish School Board Bienville Parish School Board (BPSB) is a school district headquartered in Arcadia, Louisiana, United States. The district serves Bienville Parish. In 2012 the superintendent replaced the principals of five of the district's eight schools aft ...

. Having privately thereafter studied the law, he was admitted to the bar in 1894. After his legislative years, Wimberly moved to

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...

Caddo Parish Caddo Parish ( French: ''Paroisse de Caddo'') is a parish located in the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Louisiana. According to the 2020 U.S. census, the parish had a population of 237,848. The parish seat is Shreveport, which developed a ...

in northwestern Louisiana, where he formed the law firm, Wimberly, Reeves and Dorman. He returned to Arcadia and for ten years was the parish attorney for Bienville Parish and for a number of years the parish public school superintendent. Wimberly was an alternate delegate to the

1936 Democratic National Convention The 1936 Democratic National Convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from June 23 to 27, 1936. The convention resulted in the nomination of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Vice President John N. Garner for reelection. Changes to ru ...

, which met in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

to renominate the

Roosevelt Roosevelt may refer to: *Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), 26th U.S. president *Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd U.S. president Businesses and organisations * Roosevelt Hotel (disambiguation) * Roosevelt & Son, a merchant bank * Roosevel ...

Garner Garner may refer to: Places United States * Garner, Arkansas * Garner, Iowa * Garner, Missouri * Garner, North Carolina Other uses * Garner (surname), a surname * Granary, a grain store * ''Tennessee v. Garner'', a United States Supreme Court cas ...

ticket. In 1897, Wimberly married the former Annie May Poland (1877-1960), and the couple had three children. The oldest,

Lorris M. Wimberly Lorris May Wimberly Sr. (1898 - 1962) was a state legislator in Louisiana. Rush Wimberly Joseph Rush Wimberly, I (December 30, 1873 – March 11, 1943), was at the turn of the 20th century successively a member of both houses of the Louisi ...

, served in the state House, including several stints as

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

. Lorris Wimberly was a political ally of his fellow

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 ...

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Earl Kemp Long Earl Kemp Long (August 26, 1895 – September 5, 1960) was an American politician and the 45th governor of Louisiana, serving three nonconsecutive terms. Long, known as "Uncle Earl", connected with voters through his folksy demeanor and c ...

. The other Wimberly children were J. Rush Wimberly, Jr. (1906-1982), an attorney, and Edrie W. Albrecht (1902-1983), the wife of Henry Gustave Albrecht (1899-1945) of Arcadia. Wimberly and most of his family are interred at the Arcadia Cemetery.

References

, {{DEFAULTSORT:Wimberly, Rush 1873 births 1943 deaths Democratic Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives Democratic Party Louisiana state senators Louisiana lawyers People from Arcadia, Louisiana Politicians from Shreveport, Louisiana Louisiana state court judges Methodists from Louisiana