Charles Debrille Poston

Charles Debrille Poston

Charles Debrille Poston (born April 20, 1825 in Elizabethtown , Hardin County , Kentucky , † June 24, 1902 in Phoenix , Arizona ) was an American politician . Between 1864 and 1865 he represented the Arizona Territory in the US House of Representatives as a delegate .

Early years

Charles Poston was born the son of a printer and trained in the trade in his early youth. At the same time he attended the public schools in his home country. When he was twelve years old, his father died and Charles Poston began an apprenticeship at the local district office. He later worked as an employee of the Tennessee Supreme Court in Nashville . Poston moved to California during the gold rush in 1850 . In San Francisco he worked from 1850 to 1853 as an employee of the customs authorities. In 1854 he moved to what is now Arizona. There he was involved in silver mining. At that time he also made the acquaintance of Samuel P. Heintzelman , who was then stationed in this area as a major in the US Army . Heintzelman made some important business contacts for Poston. Business was very good. But when the army withdrew to the east after the beginning of the civil war and the attacks of the Apaches became more threatening, Poston also left the area and went to Washington , where he became a civil employee of Heintzelman, who had meanwhile been promoted to brigadier general.

Political career

Heintzelman introduced Poston to President Abraham Lincoln . This appointed Poston in 1863 to the Indian commissioner. At the same time, Poston was one of the proponents of establishing the Arizona Territory. After the establishment of this territory, he was elected as the first delegate to the US House of Representatives. There he exercised his mandate between December 5, 1864 and March 3, 1865. After not being reelected, he went to law school and worked as a lawyer in Washington. He also toured Europe and Asia . He spent a few years in London , where he worked for an English newspaper and at the same time wrote articles for the New York Tribune as a foreign correspondent. Upon his return to the United States, Charles Poston was appointed by President Rutherford B. Hayes to head the Florence Landing Board in 1878 . Then in 1890 he worked as a Consular Agent for the federal government in El Paso ( Texas ).

Charles Poston died in Phoenix in June 1902. Originally he was also buried there. In 1926 his remains were transferred to Florence and reburied. Charles Poston was married twice and had a daughter who had been paralyzed since 1851 and died of cancer in 1884.

Web links

• Charles Debrille Poston in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Charles Debrille Poston in the database of Find a Grave (English)