Joseph Jefferson Mansfield (February 9, 1861 – July 12, 1947) 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 the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
from 1917 to 1947.
Biography
Mansfield was born on February 9, 1861. He was born in
Wayne, West Virginia
Wayne is a town in and the county seat of Wayne County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,441 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area.
Name
Wayne was established in 1842, by the same act of ...
. However, when he was born this was still part of the state of
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
. He attended the public schools in West Virginia.
In 1881 he moved to Texas, settling in the community of
Alleyton. Here he worked in farm and railroad laboring jobs.
In 1886, he was admitted to the bar. By this time he had relocated to
Eagle Lake, Texas
Eagle Lake is a city in southeastern Colorado County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,442 at the 2020 census. It is home to a golf course, the largest private lake in Texas, and the Eagle Lake Regional Airport, which serves light air ...
. This was a busy year for Mansfield, as he also organized two companies of the
Texas National Guard
The Texas Military Forces (TXMF) are the principal instrument through which the Texas Military Department (TMD) executes security policy for Texas, which has the second-largest population and border in the United States.
The Texas Military Forc ...
. About this time he also began the first newspaper in Eagle Lake. Mansfield rose to the rank of captain in the National Guard.
In 1889 he was elected
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of Eagle Lake. In 1892 he became the county prosecutor of
Colorado County
Colorado County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 20,557. Its county seat is Columbus. It is named for the Colorado River of Texas. The county was founded in 1836 and organized the next ...
where both Alleyton and Eagle Lake are located. From 1896 until 1916 he served as
judge
A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...
of Colorado County. Until 1910 this also made him the effective superintendent of schools for the county.
He was elected to Congress 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 ...
in 1916. In the early 1920s, he became paralyzed, and used a wheelchair to get around the Capitol for 25 years. He served in Congress until his death at
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...
on July 12, 1947.
From the
Seventy-second Congress
The 72nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1931 ...
until the
Seventy-ninth Congress he served as chairman of the
House Committee on Rivers and Harbors.
Mansfield Dam
Mansfield Dam (formerly Marshall Ford Dam) is a dam located across a canyon at Marshall Ford on the Colorado River, northwest of Austin, Texas. The groundbreaking ceremony occurred on February 19, 1937, with United States Secretary of the Int ...
is named after him.
Personal life
On January 18, 1888, Mansfield married Annie Scott Bruce (1867-1937). They had four children together, their son Bruce Jefferson Mansfield (c.1890-1966), and their daughters Susie (died in infancy), Margaret (1893-1970), and Jaquelin (1900-1997).
See also
*
Notes
External links
Nesbitt Memorial Library: Mansfield FamilyFlachmeier, W. A.: ''Mansfield, Joseph Jefferson''. In: Handbook of Texas Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mansfield, Joseph Jefferson
1861 births
1947 deaths
American prosecutors
County judges in Texas
Mayors of places in Texas
National Guard (United States) officers
People from Eagle Lake, Texas
People from Wayne County, West Virginia
Texas lawyers
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas
Military personnel from Texas
20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives