Cecil William Bishop (June 29, 1890 – September 21, 1971) was an American politician who was a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

for seven terms, from 1941 to 1955.

Biography

Bishop was born on a farm near West Vienna, Illinois. After attending the public schools and Union Academy in

Anna, Illinois Anna is the largest city and retail trade center in Union County, Illinois, United States. Located in Southern Illinois, its population was 4,303 at the 2020 United States census, a decline from 5,135 in 2000. It is known for being tied to its cl ...

, he became a

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

. As quarterback on an elementary school football team he weighed less than 90 pounds, giving rise to the nickname "Runt."Newsweek Inc.
Newsweek magazine
Volume 19, page 34 Bishop was engaged in the cleaning and tailoring business from 1910 to 1922. He later worked as a

coal miner Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extrac ...

, a

telephone lineman A lineworker (also called a lineman or powerline worker) constructs and maintains the electric transmission and distribution facilities that deliver electrical energy to industrial, commercial, and residential establishments. A lineworker instal ...

, and a player for and manager of professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

teams. He became

city clerk A clerk (pronounced "clark" /klɑːk/ in British and Australian English) is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in ma ...

Carterville, Illinois Carterville is a city in Williamson County, Illinois, United States. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 5,848. The city is part of the Carbondale-Marion-Herrin combined statistical area and has grown considerably as a residential co ...

in 1915, and served until 1918. He was town

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

from 1923 to 1933.

Congress

Bishop was elected as a Republican to the

Seventy-seventh Congress The 77th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 194 ...

and to six succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1941, to January 3, 1955. He served as chairman of the Special Committee on Campaign Expenditures in the Eighty-third Congress. He ran unsuccessfully for reelection to the Eighty-fourth Congress in 1954, and was succeeded by Kenneth J. Gray.

Later career

After serving in Congress, Bishop held several other offices, including: Congressional liaison assistant,

Post Office Department The United States Post Office Department (USPOD; also known as the Post Office or U.S. Mail) was the predecessor of the United States Postal Service, established in 1792. From 1872 to 1971, it was officially in the form of a Cabinet departme ...

, from 1955 to 1957. Superintendent, Division of Industrial Planning and Development, State of Illinois, in 1957 and 1958. Department of Labor conciliator for the State of Illinois from 1958 to 1960.

Death and burial

Bishop died in

Marion, Illinois The city of Marion is the county seat of Williamson County, Illinois, United States. The population in Marion, IL was 16,855 according to the 2020 census. It is part of a dispersed urban area that developed out of early 20th-century coal fields ...

on September 21, 1971. He was interred in Oakwood Cemetery in Carterville.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop, Cecil William 1890 births 1971 deaths People from Union County, Illinois Illinois postmasters Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois American tailors 20th-century American artisans 20th-century tailors People from Johnson County, Illinois People from Carterville, Illinois City and town clerks 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives