William Fadjo Cravens (February 15, 1899 – April 16, 1974) was an American politician and a United States

Congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

(

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 ...

, Arkansas).

Biography

Cravens was born on February 15, 1899, in Fort Smith, Arkansas, the son of Arkansas Congressman

William B. Cravens William Ben Cravens (January 17, 1872 – January 13, 1939) was an American politician and a U.S. Representative from Arkansas, father of William Fadjo Cravens and cousin of Jordan Edgar Cravens. Biography Cravens was born in Fort Smith, Arkans ...

and Carolyn (Dyal) Cravens. He attended the University of Arkansas and the University of Pittsburgh; he also attended

Washington & Lee University Washington and Lee University (Washington and Lee or W&L) is a private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts university in Lexington, Virginia. Established in 1749 as the Augusta Academy, the university is among the Colonial col ...

Lexington, Virginia Lexington is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 7,320. It is the county seat of Rockbridge County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines ...

, from which he received a law degree. He was married on February 16, 1926, to Elizabeth B. Echols and they had two children, Katherine Elizabeth Cravens and William Fadjo Cravens.

Career

Cravens served in World War I in the United States Navy as a

seaman Seaman may refer to: * Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew * Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies * Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name) * ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...

. He passed the bar in 1920 and began a law practice in Fort Smith. He took the position of City Attorney in Fort Smith. Elected to the

76th United States Congress The 76th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1939, ...

in a special election, Cravens filled the term of his father, William Ben Cravens, who had died in office, Cravens was re-elected, and served in Congress from September 12, 1939, to January 3, 1949.

Death

Cravens died in Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Arkansas, on April 16, 1974 (age 75 years, 60 days). He is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

at Forest Park Cemetery, Fort Smith, Arkansas.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cravens, William F. 1899 births 1974 deaths Politicians from Fort Smith, Arkansas American people of English descent Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas Arkansas lawyers University of Arkansas alumni University of Pittsburgh alumni Washington and Lee University School of Law alumni United States Navy sailors American military personnel of World War I