Williamson Simpson Oldham

{{Short description|American judge}} {{Use American English|date=March 2018}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2018}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Williamson Simpson Oldham, Sr. | office = [[Congress of the Confederate States|Confederate States Senator]] from [[Texas]] | term_start = February 18, 1862 | term_end = March 18, 1865 | predecessor = ''New constituency'' | successor = ''Constituency abolished'' | office1 = Deputy from [[Texas]] to the [[Provisional Congress of the Confederate States|Provisional Congress of the Confederate States]] | term_start1 = February 4, 1861 | term_end1 = February 17, 1862 | predecessor1 = ''New constituency'' | successor1 = ''Constituency abolished'' | birth_date = {{birth date|1813|6|19}} | birth_place = [[Franklin County, Tennessee]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1868|5|8|1813|6|19}} | death_place = [[Houston]], [[Texas]] | resting_place = Masonic Cemetery, [[Eagle Lake, Texas]] | party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] }} '''Williamson Simpson Oldham Sr.''' (June 19, 1813 – May 8, 1868) was an American politician who served in Arkansas state government, and as a [[Congress of the Confederate States|Confederate States Senator]] from [[Texas]] from 1862 to 1865.

==Biography== Born in [[Franklin County, Tennessee]], Oldham settled at [[Fayetteville, Arkansas]], in 1835, was elected to the [[Arkansas House of Representatives]] in 1838 and 1842. He was elected as a justice of the [[Arkansas Supreme Court]] in 1842. In 1848 he resigned to run for Congress, but was defeated, thereafter moving to [[Austin, Texas]].<ref>Fay Hempstead, ''Historical Review of Arkansas'' (1911), [https://books.google.com/books?id=wUVEAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA452 p. 452].</ref> He represented [[Texas]] in the [[Provisional Congress of the Confederate States]] from 1861 to 1862, and was a senator in both the [[1st Confederate States Congress|First]] and [[2nd Confederate States Congress|Second Confederate States congresses]] from 1862 to 1865. Oldham died on May 8, 1868.<ref>[http://simpsonhistory.com/notes/williamsonoldham.html Williamson Simpson Oldham]. Retrieved November 22, 2015.</ref>

==Legacy== [[Oldham County, Texas]] (established 1881), is named after him.

==In popular culture== In [[Harry Turtledove]]'s 1994 [[alternate history|alternative history]] novel, ''[[Guns of the South]]'', a "Congressman Oldham" from Texas is mentioned as sponsoring a bill to re-enslave [[freedmen]] in a victorious Confederacy. Since the setting was the time of the 2nd Confederate States Congress, it is likely that Turtledove was referring to Senator Oldham.

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== <!-- =============================================================================== WIKIPEDIA IS NOT A COLLECTION OF LINKS. Only a limited number of new links should be added to this article. PLEASE DO NOT ADD external links to sites with information already in the article or in its sources.

See [[Wikipedia:External links]] and [[Wikipedia:Spam]] for further details =============================================================================== --> * {{Find a Grave|18034390}} * [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/olden-oliven.html#549.50.58 William Simpson Oldham Sr.] at [[The Political Graveyard]]

{{Navboxes |title=Offices and distinctions |list1= {{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box|title=Deputy from [[Texas]] to the [[Provisional Congress of the Confederate States]]|years=1861–1862|before=New constituency|after=Constituency abolished}} {{s-par|cs-sen}} {{s-new|constituency}} {{s-ttl|title=[[List of members of the Confederate Senate|Confederate States Senator (Class 3) from Texas]]|years=1862–1865|alongside=[[Louis Wigfall]]}} {{s-non|reason=Constituency abolished}} {{s-end}} }} {{Navboxes |title=Articles related to William Simpson Oldham Sr. |list1= {{CSProvisionalConstitutionSig}} {{Confederate States Constitution signatories}} {{C.S. Senators}} }} {{Portal bar|American Civil War|Biography|Politics|Texas}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oldham, Williamson Simpson Sr.}} [[Category:1813 births]] [[Category:1868 deaths]] [[Category:Justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court]] [[Category:Confederate States of America senators]] [[Category:Members of the Arkansas House of Representatives]] [[Category:People of Texas in the American Civil War]] [[Category:Signatories of the Constitution of the Confederate States]] [[Category:Signatories of the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States]] [[Category:Texas Democrats]] [[Category:19th-century Arkansas state court judges]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Arkansas General Assembly]]