George D. Tillman

George D. Tillman

George Dionysius Tillman (born August 21, 1826 in Curryton , Edgefield County , South Carolina , †  February 2, 1902 in Clarks Hill , South Carolina) was an American politician . Between 1879 and 1893 he represented the state of South Carolina twice in the US House of Representatives .

Career

George Tillman was the older brother of Benjamin Ryan Tillman (1847-1918), who was Governor of South Carolina between 1890 and 1894 and US Senator for that state from 1895 to 1918 . He attended public schools in Penfield ( Georgia ) and Greenwood (South Carolina). He then began studying at Harvard University , which he did not finish. After a subsequent law degree and his admission as a lawyer in 1848, he began to practice in Edgefield in his new profession.

Politically, Tillman became a member of the Democratic Party . Between 1854 and 1855 he was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives . During the Civil War he was a soldier in the Confederate States Army between 1862 and 1865 . In 1864 he was re-elected to the House of Representatives for his state. In 1865 he was a delegate to a meeting to recast the South Carolina Constitution. In the same year he became a member of the State Senate . In 1876 Tillman ran unsuccessfully for Congress .

In 1878 he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the fifth constituency of South Carolina . There he took over from the Republican Robert Smalls on March 4, 1879 . Until March 3, 1881, he completed a regular legislative period in the House of Representatives. In the elections of 1880 he was confirmed. On March 4, 1881, he entered his second term in Congress. The election result was challenged by Robert Smalls, his predecessor and opponent. After this objection was granted, Tillman had to cede his mandate to Smalls on June 19, 1882.

In 1882, Tillman successfully ran in the Second District of South Carolina for his return to Congress. There he took over on March 4, 1883, succeeding Edmund William McGregor Mackey of the Republican Party. After four re-elections, he was able to complete five consecutive terms in the US House of Representatives by March 3, 1893. From 1891 to 1893 he was chairman of the patent committee. In 1892, Tillman failed to nominate his party for another term. In the following years he worked in agriculture and as a publicist. In 1895 he was a member of a commission to revise the South Carolina Constitution. In 1898 he unsuccessfully applied for the office of governor of South Carolina. George Tillman died on February 2, 1902 in Clarks Hill.

Web links

• George D. Tillman in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• George D. Tillman in the database of Find a Grave (English)