Thomas J. Word

Thomas Jefferson Word (* about 1809 in Surry County, North Carolina, † unknown ) was an American politician. Between 1838 and 1839 he represented the first electoral district of the state of Mississippi in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

Not much is known about the life and work of Thomas Word. He was born about 1809 in North Carolina, studied law and worked in this profession. Politically, he was a member of the Whig party. In 1832 he was a member of the House of Representatives from North Carolina.

After moving to Mississippi, he settled in Pontotoc. Even in his new home Thomas Word was politically active at both the local and at the state level. In the congressional elections of 1836, in which both still at that time the state of Mississippi entitled deputies were elected throughout the state, there had been irregularities. In these elections, Samuel Jameson Gholson and John Claiborne had been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Against both election results appeal was filed and the Congress declared on February 5, 1838, the elections invalid. As a result, new elections were scheduled, in which Thomas Word and Seargent Smith Prentiss were elected. This Word was able to start on May 30, 1838 from his position in Congress, which he held until the end of the legislature on March 3, 1839. At the next regular congressional elections he was not confirmed. His mandate then fell to the Democrats Jacob Thompson. Together with the simultaneously selected Seargent Prentiss and Patrick W. Tompkins, who represented the third district of Mississippi in Congress 1847-1849, Thomas Word was one of only three Whigs, who were ever elected to that State in the U.S. House of Representatives.

After the end of his time in Congress, Thomas Word withdrew from politics and worked as a lawyer again. In 1854 he moved to the Anderson County in Texas. There lose track of him. His date of death and place of death are not known. Thomas Word was the great- great-uncle of the writer William Faulkner.