Samuel Riley Sells (August 2, 1871 – November 2, 1935) 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 1st 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

Sells was born on August 2, 1871, in

Bristol, Tennessee Bristol is a city in Sullivan County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 27,147 at the 2020 census. It is the twin city of Bristol, Virginia, which lies directly across the state line between Tennessee and Virginia. The boundary be ...

, in Sullivan County son of George Washington and Mary Margaret McCrary. He attended the rural schools and King College in Bristol, Tennessee from 1895 to 1890. He studied law, 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 ...

, and commenced practice in

Blountville, Tennessee Blountville is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Sullivan County, Tennessee. The population was 3,074 at the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census and 3,120 at the 2020 census. It is the only Tennessee county seat not ...

. He served as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

in Company F, Third Regiment, Tennessee Volunteer Infantry during the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

. He married Frances Rice Hayward on April 25, 1904, and they had four children, Samuel Hayward, Charlotte Wyman, Lucy McGuire, and Frank Hayward.

Career

After moving to

Johnson City, Tennessee Johnson City is a city in Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, mostly in Washington County. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 71,046, making it Tennessee's eighth-most populous cit ...

, Sells engaged in the lumber business. He served as a member of the

Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee , Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any ...

from 1909 to 1911. Sells was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-second and to the four succeeding Congresses. He served from March 4, 1911, to March 3, 1921, and was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1920. During the Sixty-sixth Congress, he was the chairman of the United States House Committee on Pensions. He was a delegate to the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...

in 1912, 1916 and 1932. Resuming the lumber business in Johnson City, Tennessee, Sells also engaged in the manufacturing of shale brick and in numerous other enterprises.

Death

Sells died in Johnson City, Tennessee, on November 2, 1935 (age 64 years, 92 days). He 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 Oak Hill Cemetery in Johnson City.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sells, Sam Riley 1871 births 1935 deaths Republican Party Tennessee state senators Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee People from Bristol, Tennessee People from Johnson City, Tennessee 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly