William Elijah Cox (September 6, 1861 – March 11, 1942) was an American lawyer and politician who served six 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

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

from 1907 to 1919.

Early life and career

Born on a farm near

Birdseye, Indiana Birdseye is a town in Jefferson Township, Dubois County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. At the 2010 census, the town population was 415. Birdseye is part of the Jasper Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Birdseye was platted in 1880. Popula ...

, Cox attended the common and high schools of Huntingburg and Jasper, Indiana. He graduated from Lebanon University, Tennessee, in 1888. He then went to the law department of the

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from which he graduated in 1889. 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 ...

July 10, 1889, and commenced practice at

Rockport, Indiana Rockport is a city in Ohio Township and the county seat of Spencer County, Indiana, along the Ohio River. The population was 2,270 at the 2010 census. Once the largest community in Spencer County, the city has recently been surpassed by the t ...

, moving to

Jasper, Indiana Jasper is a city in, and the county seat of, Dubois County, Indiana, United States, located along the Patoka River. The population was 16,703 at the 2020 census making it the 48th largest city in Indiana. On November 4, 2007, Dubois County returne ...

, later in the same year. He served as prosecuting attorney for the eleventh judicial district of Indiana 1892-1898.

Congress

Cox 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 Sixtieth and to the five succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1919). He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Treasury ( Sixty-second Congress). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1918 to the Sixty-sixth Congress.

Later career and death

He resumed the practice of law and also was engaged with a desk-manufacturing company, serving as president at the time of his death. He died in

, March 11, 1942. He was interred in Fairmount Cemetery,

Huntingburg, Indiana Huntingburg is a city in Patoka Township, Dubois County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 6,362 at the 2020 census. Located in southwestern Indiana, the city is known for its downtown with numerous antique shops. It is part of t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, William Elijah 1861 births 1942 deaths University of Michigan Law School alumni People from Dubois County, Indiana Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana