William J. Sears

William J. Sears

William Joseph Sears (born December 4, 1874 in Smithville , Lee County , Georgia , †  March 30, 1944 in Kissimmee , Florida ) was an American politician . Between 1915 and 1929 and again between 1933 and 1937 he represented the state of Florida in the US House of Representatives .

Career

William Sears moved with his parents to Ellaville in his childhood and then to Kissimmee, Florida in January 1881, where he attended public schools. He then studied at Florida State College in Lake City and then until 1895 at Mercer University in Macon (Georgia). After studying law and being admitted to the bar in 1905, Sears began working in his new profession in Kissimmee. Between 1907 and 1911 he was also mayor of this city. From 1905 to 1915 he served as a school councilor in Osceola County .

Politically, Sears was a member of the Democratic Party . In the congressional elections of 1914 he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the fourth constituency of Florida , where he succeeded Claude L'Engle on March 4, 1915 . After six re-elections, he was able to complete seven legislative terms in Congress by March 3, 1929 . The First World War and the passing of the 18th and 19th amendments to the Constitution fell during this period . Between 1917 and 1919 Sears was chairman of the education committee.

In 1928, Sears was not nominated for re-election by his party. In the following years he practiced as a lawyer in Kissimmee and Jacksonville . In the congressional elections of 1932 he was then re-elected to Congress in the then newly created fifth district of Florida, where he could spend two more terms between March 4, 1933 and January 3, 1937. During this time, many of the federal government's New Deal laws were discussed and passed. In 1933, the 18th Amendment from 1919 was repealed with the 21st amendment to the Constitution . It was about the ban on the trade in alcoholic beverages.

In 1936, William Sears missed the nomination for re-election. Subsequently he was a member of an appeal committee for veterans affairs until 1942. He then retired, which he spent in Kissimmee, where he died on March 30, 1944.

Web links

• William J. Sears in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• William J. Sears in the database of Find a Grave (English)