Samuel Watkins Overton Jr. (June 5, 1894 – December 2, 1958) was an American politician and the longest-serving mayor in the history of

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

Early life

Samuel Watkins Overton Jr. was born in Memphis on June 5, 1894 to Samuel Watkins Overton Sr. and Mary Hill Overton. Watkins Overton Jr. was also the great-great-grandson of Judge

John Overton John Overton may refer to: People *John Overton (printseller) (1640–1713), seller of prints and maps who succeeded Peter Stent *John Overton (priest) (1763–1838), English clergyman *John Overton (judge) (1766–1833), judge at the Superior Cour ...

, the founder of Memphis; his grandfather also served as Mayor. Watkins Overton Jr. graduated with his AB degree from

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. During World War I, he served with the Ambulance Corps of AEF. He earned his LLB from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1921. He was a member of

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, and

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. After completing law school, Overton entered the practice of law in Memphis.

Political career

When Watkins Overton ran for Mayor of Memphis in 1927, aided by the

E. H. Crump Edward Hull "Boss" Crump Jr. (October 2, 1874 – October 16, 1954) was an American politician from Memphis, Tennessee. Representing the Democratic Party, he was the dominant force in the city's politics for most of the first half of the 20t ...

political machine,. construction of an airport was a major focus of his mayoral campaign. Overton quickly appointed an airport planning commission after his election, and on June 15, 1929, the Memphis Municipal Airport opened for business. The city was also in debt to the amount of $900,000 when he took control of the city in 1928. During the depression, Overton managed to erase the debt and accumulate a $1 million surplus. He also successfully lobbied for federally funded projects through the WPA and PWA. His second term ended in acrimony: disgusted by the City Commission, he resigned on March 1, 1953. Watkins Overton died on December 2, 1958, in Memphis.

References

1894 births 1958 deaths Carroll University alumni University of Chicago Law School alumni Mayors of Memphis, Tennessee 20th-century American politicians {{Tennessee-mayor-stub