Charles Bryson Simonton (September 8, 1838 – June 10, 1911) was an American politician and 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 ...

for the 9th congressional district of

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

Biography

Simonton was born in

Tipton County, Tennessee Tipton County is a County (United States), county located on the western end of the U.S. state of Tennessee, in the Mississippi Delta region. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 60,970. Its county seat is Covingt ...

, son of William and Catherine "Katie" Ferguson Simonton. He graduated from

Erskine College Erskine College is a private Christian college in Due West, South Carolina, United States. It is an undergraduate liberal arts college and a graduate theological seminary. The college was founded in 1839 by the Associate Reformed Presbyteri ...

in Due West,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

in August 1859. He married Mary Andros "Minnie" McDill on October 16, 1866. He had five children, Anna Simonton, Ella Simonton, William McDill Simonton, Charles Pressley Simonton, and Nannie May Simonton.

Career

Simonton enlisted as a private in Company C, Ninth Tennessee Infantry,

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...

in 1861. He subsequently became second lieutenant, and then

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. He was severely wounded during the

Battle of Perryville The Battle of Perryville, also known as the Battle of Chaplin Hills, was fought on October 8, 1862, in the Chaplin Hills west of Perryville, Kentucky, as the culmination of the Confederate Heartland Offensive (Kentucky Campaign) during the Ame ...

on October 8, 1862 and disabled from any further active duty during the war. He was elected clerk of the circuit court of Tipton County in March 1870. Simonton

read law Reading law was the primary method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship un ...

, and was admitted to the

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

in 1873. He then commenced practice in

Covington, Tennessee Covington is a city in central Tipton County, Tennessee, United States. Covington is the second largest city and county seat of Tipton County. The city is located in West Tennessee, east of the Mississippi River. The city's population was 9,038 a ...

in Tipton County. He was also a member of the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

from 1877 to 1879. He became the editor of the ''Tipton Record'' in Covington, Tennessee. Elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

to the Forty-sixth and Forty-seventh Congresses, Simonton served from March 4, 1879 to March 3, 1883. He was chairman of the Democratic state convention in 1886. Simonton was president of the Covington city school board from 1892 to 1903. He was the

United States district attorney United States attorneys are officials of the United States Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 United States federal judicial district, U.S. federal judici ...

for the Western district of Tennessee from 1895 to 1898.

Death

Simonton died in Covington, Tennessee, and is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and object ...

at Munford Cemetery.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Simonton, Charles Bryson Democratic Party members of the Tennessee House of Representatives 1838 births 1911 deaths Erskine College alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law United States attorneys for the Western District of Tennessee 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly