J. Willard Ragsdale

James Willard Ragsdale (born December 14, 1872 in Timmonsville , Florence County , South Carolina , † July 23, 1919 in Washington, DC ) was an American politician . Between 1913 and 1919 he represented the state of South Carolina in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Willard Ragsdale attended the common schools and then worked in the management of a railway company in Wilmington ( North Carolina ). He then studied at the University of South Carolina in Columbia . After a subsequent law degree and his admission to the bar in 1898, he began to practice in his new profession in Florence (South Carolina). He was also involved in banking and agriculture. Ragsdale was also the curator of the South Carolina Industrial School .

Politically, he became a member of the Democratic Party . From 1899 to 1900 he was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives , and from 1902 to 1904 he was a member of the State Senate . In the meantime, he unsuccessfully applied for the post of Attorney General in his home state. In 1910, his first candidacy for the US House of Representatives failed.

In 1912, however, Ragsdale was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington in the sixth electoral district of South Carolina, where he succeeded J. Edwin Ellerbe on March 4, 1913 . After three re-elections, he could remain in Congress until his death on July 23, 1919 . During this time the First World War fell . While he was in Congress, the 17th and 18th amendments were passed.

J. Willard Ragsdale was buried in Florence.

Web links

• J. Willard Ragsdale in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• J. Willard Ragsdale in the database of Find a Grave (English)