William Claiborne Dunlap (February 25, 1798 – November 16, 1872) was an American politician who represented

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

United States House of Representatives 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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, Tennessee thirteenth district in the

Biography

Dunlap was born in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

on February 25, 1798. His twin brother was Hugh White Dunlap. He attended the Ebenezer Academy and

Maryville College Maryville College is a private liberal arts college in Maryville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1819 by Presbyterian minister Isaac L. Anderson for the purpose of furthering education and enlightenment into the West. The college is one of the ...

Maryville, Tennessee Maryville is a city in and the county seat of Blount County, Tennessee, and is a suburb of Knoxville. Its population was 31,907 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Knoxville Metropolitan Area and a short distance from popular tourist desti ...

, from 1813 to 1817. He studied law, was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

, and commenced his law practice in Knoxville in 1819. He was one of a large family of Hugh Dunlap and Susanna Gilliam, the sons all lawyers.

Career

After serving in the Indian campaign in 1818 and 1819, Dunlap moved to

Bolivar, Tennessee Bolivar is a city in and the county seat of Hardeman County, Tennessee, United States. The town was named for South American revolutionary leader Simón Bolívar. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 5,417. Bolivar is served by Willia ...

in 1828. He also held a commission in the

United States Volunteers United States Volunteers also known as U.S. Volunteers, U.S. Volunteer Army, or other variations of these, were military volunteers called upon during wartime to assist the United States Army but who were separate from both the Regular Army and the ...

in 1830. Dunlap was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses. He served from March 4, 1833 to March 3, 1837. He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1836 to the

Twenty-fifth Congress The 25th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 183 ...

. Dunlap was a judge of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Tennessee from 1840 to 1849, when he resigned and resumed practicing law. He served as a member of the

Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any issue rega ...

elected in 1851, 1853, and 1857. He served in the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

from 1857 to 1859. After he helped create Sequatchie County, TN, the county seat, Coop's Creek was re-named Dunlap in his honor. Dunlap Street near the medical center in Memphis, TN is also named for him.

Death

Dunlap died near

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 ...

on November 16, 1872 (age 74 years, 265 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 ...

in Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunlap, William Claiborne Democratic Party Tennessee state senators Democratic Party members of the Tennessee House of Representatives 1798 births 1872 deaths Tennessee lawyers Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee 19th-century American politicians People from Bolivar, Tennessee