Thomas Sterling

Thomas Sterling

Thomas Sterling (born February 21, 1851 in Amanda , Ohio , †  August 26, 1930 in Washington, DC ) was an American politician ( Republican Party ) who represented the state of South Dakota in the US Senate .

Early years and legal career

Thomas Sterling was a toddler when his parents moved him to McLean County , Illinois in 1854 . There his brother John was born in 1857 , who would later also become a politician and who sat in the US House of Representatives for Illinois from 1915 to 1918 . After attending public schools, he studied at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington , where he graduated in 1875. He then held office until 1877 as head of school for the city of Bement .

Sterling completed a law degree and was admitted to the bar in 1878, after which he began practicing in Springfield . From 1880 to 1881 he worked there as a public prosecutor. In 1882 he moved to the Dakota Territory , where he settled first in Northville and later in Redfield . Between 1886 and 1888 he was the district attorney in Spink County . At the University of South Dakota at Vermillion , he served as Dean of the Law School from 1901 to 1911.

politics

In 1889 Thomas Sterling was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of South Dakota; the following year he was a member of the State Senate . In 1912 he competed in the Republican primaries against incumbent US Senator Robert J. Gamble and prevailed as well as later in the actual election, whereupon he entered Congress on March 4, 1913 . Six years later he was confirmed in office before he failed to nominate his party again in 1924 and had to leave the Senate on March 3, 1925. During his tenure, he was, among other things, chairman of the Public Service Committee .

Following his Senate career, Sterling served as a lawyer in Washington and on the law school at National University in La Jolla . In 1925, US President Calvin Coolidge appointed him to the commission for the preparation of the celebrations for the 200th birthday of George Washington . In 1930 Thomas Sterling died in Washington.

Web links

• Thomas Sterling in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Thomas Sterling in database Find a Grave (English)