Joseph Barton Elam

Joseph Barton Elam

Joseph Barton Elam (born June 12, 1821 in Hope , Arkansas , †  July 4, 1885 in Mansfield , Louisiana ) was an American politician . Between 1877 and 1881 he represented the state of Louisiana in the US House of Representatives .

Career

As a toddler, Joseph Elam and his family moved to Coryell County , Texas , which was then part of Mexico , in 1823 . In 1826 the family moved to Natchitoches , Louisiana. He attended elementary school in the neighboring Fort Jesup . After a subsequent law degree and his admission as a lawyer in 1843, he began to work in Alexandria in this profession. From 1851 he lived in De Soto Parish .

Politically, Elam became a member of the Democratic Party . Between 1851 and 1861 he was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives . In 1861 he was a delegate at the meeting at which the withdrawal of the state of Louisiana from the Union was decided. He was one of the signatories of the withdrawal declaration. During the Civil War , Elam was again a member of parliament and speaker in the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1863 and 1864 .

In the congressional elections of 1876 Elam was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the fourth constituency of Louisiana , where he succeeded William M. Levy on March 4, 1877 . After being re-elected, he was able to complete two terms in Congress until March 3, 1881 . After not being sustained in 1880, Joseph Elam worked as a lawyer in Mansfield. He died there on July 4, 1885.

Web links

• Joseph Barton Elam in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Joseph Barton Elam in the database of Find a Grave (English)