William K. Sebastian

William King Sebastian (* 1812 in Centreville, Hickman County, Tennessee, † May 20, 1865 in Memphis, Tennessee) was an American lawyer and politician (Democratic Party), who represented the state of Arkansas in the U.S. Senate.

Life

After he had obtained his college degree in Tennessee, William King Sebastian studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1835, after which he began practicing as a lawyer in Helena, Arkansas; later he became active as a planter and built on cotton. From 1835 to 1837 he was employed as a prosecutor, 1840-1843, he served as a judge at the district court (circuit court), before he was appointed to the same position on the Arkansas Supreme Court.

Policy

1846 then was Sebastian's election to the Senate from Arkansas, which he headed until 1847 as president. After the death of U.S. Senator Chester Ashley, he was appointed to succeed him in Washington and took office on 12 May 1848 later he also won the official election. Sebastian also the re- elections in 1853 and 1859 respectively decided for themselves. During his time in the Senate, he served as Chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs.

Immediately after the outbreak of the Civil War put Sebastian down his Senate seat; the formal exclusion from the committee for supporting the Confederacy took place on July 11, 1861 He returned to Arkansas, where he worked as a lawyer again. ; the newly founded state, he took no political office. When the Union troops in 1864 took Helena, Sebastian moved his residence to Memphis. He died there the following year.

Appreciation

In 1877, the Senate withdrew the resolution on Sebastian's exclusion from the Parliament; his children was paid compensation. The Sebastian County, Arkansas is named after former Senator.