James Wickersham

James Wickersham ( born August 24, 1857 in Patoka, Marion County, Illinois, † October 24, 1939 in Juneau, Alaska ) was an American politician. Between 1909 and 1933 he represented several times as delegate to the Alaska Territory in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Early years and political rise

James Wickersham attended the public schools of his home. After a subsequent law degree, he was admitted in 1880 as a lawyer. Then he started in Springfield to work in his new profession. He was a member of the militia of Illinois. In 1883 Wickersham moved into the Washington Territory. In the local Pierce County 1884 to 1888 he was judge in a probate court. In 1894, he was a trial lawyer of the city Tacoma.

Wickersham was a member of the Republican Party. In 1898 he was a member of the House of Representatives from Washington. In 1900 he was appointed by President William McKinley to the federal judge in the judicial district of Alaska. This office practiced Wickersham from until January 1908. This task in the wild, uninhabited land without infrastructure was very difficult.

Congress delegate

In the congressional elections of 1908 James Wickersham was elected successor of Thomas Cale in the U.S. House of Representatives. There he graduated as a delegate between 4 March 1909 and the March 3, 1917 four related end legislatures. Then he was beaten by Charles Sulzer, the candidate of the Democratic Party. But Wickersham successfully sued against the election results. In January 1919, two months before the expiry of its term, Sulzer had passed back to Wickersham, who then took his seat in the House of Representatives until March 3, 1919 again his mandate. Paradoxically, Sulzer was elected in 1918 to Congress. Also, this election result was challenged by Wickersham. While the process was still running, died Charles Sulzer on 28 April 1919 and with George Grigsby, another Democrat was elected as his replacement in the House of Representatives. After Wickershams choice objection was then was granted, he was between 1 and March 3, 1921 for three days congress delegate. After that he went to Juneau in Alaska, where he worked as a lawyer.

In the elections of 1930, James Wickersham was re-elected as a delegate to Congress to Washington. There he remained for a further full term between 4 March 1931 to 3 March 1933. In the 1932 elections, he was defeated by Anthony Dimond. It should be noted that all the delegates represented in the U.S. House of Representatives from Alaska to 1959 had no right to vote, because the area up to this point was not an official U.S. state.

Further CV

After his retirement from federal politics, he was again Attorney in Juneau. He also published several books with historical or ethnological background. James Wickersham died in October 1939.