William Augustus Lake (January 6, 1808 – October 15, 1861) was an American lawyer and politician who served one term as a U.S. Representative from Mississippi from 1855 to 1857.

Biography

Born near Cambridge, Maryland on January 6, 1808, Lake pursued classical studies and was graduated from Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1827. He served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates in 1831, after which he moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1834 and started practicing in

Vicksburg Vicksburg most commonly refers to: * Vicksburg, Mississippi, a city in western Mississippi, United States * The Vicksburg Campaign, an American Civil War campaign * The Siege of Vicksburg, an American Civil War battle Vicksburg is also the name of ...

. He served as member of the

Mississippi State Senate The Mississippi Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate, along with the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, convenes at the Mississippi State Capitol ...

in 1848.

Congress

Lake was elected as an American Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1856 to the Thirty-fifth Congress. He served in the

Mississippi House of Representatives The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi. According to the state constitution of 1890, it is to comprise no more than 122 members elected fo ...

from 1859 to 1861, and was its Speaker in the January 1861 session.

Later career and death

He then resumed the practice of law. He was a candidate for the Confederate Congress in 1861 and, during the canvass was killed in a duel by his opponent, Colonel Chambers, of Mississippi, October 15, 1861, at Hopefield, Arkansas, opposite Memphis, Tennessee. He was interred in the City Cemetery, Vicksburg, Mississippi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake, William Augustus 1808 births 1861 deaths 19th-century American politicians American politicians killed in duels Deaths by firearm in Arkansas Know-Nothing members of the United States House of Representatives from Mississippi Members of the United States House of Representatives from Mississippi Mississippi Know Nothings People from Dorchester County, Maryland Members of the Maryland House of Delegates Speakers of the Mississippi House of Representatives Mississippi state senators Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves