Xenophon Pierce Wilfley (; March 18, 1871May 4, 1931) was a

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician who represented the state of

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

in the

U.S. 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 powe ...

for five months in 1918.

Early life

Wilfley was born near

Mexico, Missouri , image_skyline = Audrain County Missouri Courthouse.JPG , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = The Audrain County Courthouse in downtown Mexico. , image_flag = , image_seal = ...

, the son of James Franklin Wilfley. He attended local country schools in his youth. He graduated from Clarksburg College in 1891 and from Central Methodist College in

Fayette, Missouri Fayette is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Missouri, United States. It is part of the Columbia, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 2,803 at the 2020 census. History Fayette was laid out in 1823. Th ...

in 1894. He taught at Central Methodist College for one year and at Sedalia High School in

Sedalia, Missouri Sedalia is a city located approximately south of the Missouri River and, as the county seat of Pettis County, Missouri, United States, it is the principal city of the Sedalia Micropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the city had ...

for three years. In 1899 he graduated from

Washington University Law School Washington University in St. Louis School of Law (WashULaw) is the law school of Washington University in St. Louis, a private university in St. Louis, Missouri. WashULaw has consistently ranked among the top law schools in the country; it is c ...

and began to practice law in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

with his brother

Lebbeus R. Wilfley Lebbeus Redman Wilfley ( March 30, 1866 – May 26, 1926) was an American attorney who served as Attorney General of the Philippines and as a judge of the United States Court for China. He is also known for his investigation into the Torreón m ...

. From 1917 to 1918 he was the chairman of the city's board of election commissioners.

United States Senator (1918)

In 1918 Wilfley was appointed to the United States Senate by Governor Frederick D. Gardner as a Democrat to fill out the term of William J. Stone, who had died in office on April 14, 1918. Wilfley served from April 30 to November 5 and was the chairman of the Committee on Industrial Expositions. He unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat but lost it to Joseph Folk, who in turn lost the general election to Republican

Selden P. Spencer Selden Palmer Spencer (September 16, 1862May 16, 1925) was an American lawyer and politician. A Republican, he was a United States Senator from Missouri. Early life Selden Spencer was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, to Samuel Selden and Eliza Debor ...

Later life and death

After leaving the Senate, Wilfley returned to St. Louis and resumed his legal practice, becoming president of the

Missouri Bar Association The Missouri Bar is the official bar association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/ ...

in 1925. He died in St. Louis in 1931 at the age of 60 and is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery.

Personal life and family

Wilfley's brother,

, was

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

from 1901 to 1906 and Judge of the

United States Court for China The United States Court for China was a United States district court that had extraterritorial jurisdiction over U.S. citizens in China. It existed from 1906 to 1943 and had jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters, with appeals taken to the U ...

from 1906 to 1908. In 1908 Wilfley married Rosamond Guthrie, who was also from Mexico, Missouri. Wilfley was a

Southern Methodist , mottoeng = " The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , p ...

and a Freemason.https://archive.org/details/stlouisfourthcit02instev/page/n599/mode/2up?q=xenophon+wilfley

References

1871 births 1931 deaths Central Methodist University alumni People from Mexico, Missouri People from Sedalia, Missouri Politicians from St. Louis Washington University School of Law alumni Democratic Party United States senators from Missouri Missouri Democrats Missouri lawyers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American lawyers Washington University in St. Louis alumni {{Missouri-politician-stub

Early life

United States Senator (1918)

Later life and death

Personal life and family

Further reading

References