William Joseph DeBoe (June 30, 1849June 15, 1927) was a

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...

representing

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

from 1897 to 1903.

Early life

Born in

Crittenden County, Kentucky Crittenden County is a county in the U.S. state of Kentucky. At the 2020 census, the population was 8,990. Its county seat is Marion. The county was formed in 1842 and named for John J. Crittenden, senator and future Governor of Kentucky. It ...

, DeBoe attended Ewing College in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

, studying both law and medicine. He graduated from the

University of Louisville School of Medicine The University of Louisville School of Medicine at the University of Louisville is a medical school located in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. Opened as the Louisville Medical Institute in 1837, it is one of the oldest medical schools in Nor ...

and practiced for a few years. The then renewed the study of law and was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar ( ...

in 1889. He practiced law in

Marion, Kentucky Marion is a home rule-class city in Crittenden County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,039. The farm communities surrounding Marion are home to a large Amish popula ...

(Crittenden County).

Career

DeBoe served as superintendent of schools of Crittenden County. He then ran an unsuccessful candidacy for election in 1892 to Congress. He served as a member of the Kentucky State Senate from 1893 to 1898. He was afterward elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

and served from March 4, 1897, to March 3, 1903. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1902. While in the Senate, DeBoe served as chairman to the Committee on Indian Depredations and the Committee to Establish the University of the United States. He was a delegate from Kentucky to the

1912 Republican National Convention The 1912 Republican National Convention was held at the Chicago Coliseum, Chicago, Illinois, from June 18 to June 22, 1912. The party nominated President William H. Taft and Vice President James S. Sherman for re-election for the 1912 United St ...

. Ten years later he served as the postmaster of Marion, Kentucky from 1923 to 1927. He died in Marion and was interred in Maple View Cemetery.

Sources

Political Graveyard
1849 births 1927 deaths People from Crittenden County, Kentucky Republican Party United States senators from Kentucky Kentucky state senators Physicians from Kentucky Kentucky lawyers 19th-century American lawyers University of Louisville School of Medicine alumni {{ULouisville-stub