William Adams Dawson (November 5, 1903 – November 7, 1981) was 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

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. Born in

Layton, Utah Layton is a city in Davis County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Ogden-Clearfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 81,773, with 2022 estimates showing a slight increase to 84,665. Layto ...

, Dawson attended the public schools. He graduated from the law department of the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

in 1926. 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 ...

the same year and commenced practice in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

, and was

County attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a lo ...

of Davis County from 1926 to 1934, and mayor of Layton 1935–1939. He served as member of the

Utah State Senate The Utah State Senate is the upper house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The Utah Senate is composed of 29 elected members representing an equal number of senate districts. Each senate district is ...

from 1940 to 1944. Dawson was elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the Eightieth Congress (January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1948 to the Eighty-first Congress. Dawson was elected to the Eighty-third, Eighty-fourth, and Eighty-fifth Congresses (January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1959). Dawson voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1958 to the Eighty-sixth Congress. He served as vice president of Zions First National Bank from 1959 to 1969. He was a resident of

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, until his death on November 7, 1981. He was interred in Kaysville Cemetery,

Kaysville, Utah Kaysville is a city in Davis County, Utah. It is part of the Ogden–Clearfield metropolitan area. The population was 27,300 at the time of the 2010 census, with an estimated population of 32,390 in 2019. History Shortly after Latter Day Sain ...

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, William Adams 1903 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American politicians Mayors of places in Utah People from Layton, Utah Politicians from Salt Lake City Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Utah University of Utah alumni Utah lawyers Republican Party Utah state senators 20th-century American lawyers S.J. Quinney College of Law alumni