Senator Thomas Hickman Williams’ Election in 1838

Off the top of my head (or through a search on the awesome Congressional Bioguide) I am unsure how many US Senators from the same state have the same name. Or almost the same name. One of the two first US Senators from Mississippi (in addition to Governor/US Senator Walter Leake of eventually-Clinton) was Thomas Hill Williams. Another US Senator elected some twenty years later was Thomas Hickman Williams whose grave is the picture above along with his wife Eustacia McBee Williams (more on them below).

As most of politics in Mississippi in the 1830s, the question of political opponents boiled down to your support for Andrew Jackson. It was very clear: I like him or he makes my stomach turn. Sort of like Donald Trump. Democrats and Whigs were the official parties of the day but Jackson was a significant factor.

Mississippi’s two US Senators in 1835 were George Poindexter and John Black. Neither of them were Jackson fans which is why they both knew getting re-elected by the Mississippi legislature was a long shot. Poindexter decided he’d make a run at it fin 1835 for re-election and lost. Black knew it was a lost cause for re-election and tossed in the towel in 1838. My assumption is because Black saw Poindexter could not pull off re-election in 1835 (keep in mind until the US Constitution was changed by the 17th Amendment in 1913 the Legislatures of the various states elected the US Senators), he decided going through the stresses of the election was too much.

So in 1838 before he had to face the Legislative juggernaut or spend a season canvassing the state Black decided to not finish the end of his term (he only had about a year left). Some sources say he was asked to step down because it was apparent he wouldn’t win re-election and the state wanted to have the seniority. The Democrats nominate James F. Trotter who at that time was a circuit judge and had been a member of both the State Senate and House from Hamilton in Monroe County. The Whig vote was split between William S. Bodley of Vicksburg (a Whig haven) and John Henderson from Woodville. Trotter received 62 votes, Bodley 32 and Henderson 25.

But alas Trotter is not enjoying being in Washington and away from his adopted state of Mississippi (and he was probably losing money) so he resigns in July of 1838 having only served six months. In the fall of 1838 the Legislature tries again to elect a Senator and John Henderson is back in play. But the Democrats rally around Thomas Hickman Williams and elected him 60 to 52 over Henderson. Williams served out the rest of Black’s term and in the Spring of 1839 with the third time being the charm, Henderson unseats Williams for the full term.

Here is a video of me finding Thomas Hickman Williams’ grave in Algoma. This is where I discovered Williams and Governor/Congressman Tilghman Tucker were married to Silas McBee’s daughters (Eustacia and Sarah respectively). Silas McBee is buried by his son in law Senator Williams, was a soldier in the American Revolution, and is given credit for changing the name of Possum Town to Columbus.