The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 33, July 1929 - April, 1930 Page: 113
344 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Political Career of Williamson Simpson Oldham 113
when he was twenty-three years old. Judge Green thought him
a good student and even furnished him a law library with which
to begin practice. When Oldham offered, in after years, to pay
for the books, Judge Green told him "to go and do likewise for
some worthy young man."'
Soon after Oldham was admitted to the bar he moved to Ar-
kansas. Arkansas was admitted to the Union in June, 1836, and
it was not strange that Oldham had the faith of the pioneers that
opportunities were always better farther west. In the fall of
1836, Oldham went to Fayetteville, Arkansas, and began his prac-
tice as a lawyer. In Fayetteville, his untiring energy and strength
of intellect, as well as his excellent traits of character, helped him
professionally as well as socially. On December 12, 1837, he
married Mary Vance McKissick, the daughter of Colonel James
McKissick, who was a very wealthy and influential citizen of Fay-
etteville. In the same year, Oldham became the attorney for the
State Bank at Fayetteville, which was at that time the fiscal agent
for northwest Arkansas. Evidently he was successful financially,
because the Oldham home, built on a high hill overlooking the
city, was the finest in the State."
With wealth and position added to his personal qualities, the
field of politics was a natural one for Oldham to enter. In 1838
he was sent as a member of the General Assembly from Washing-
ton County.6 Although he was only twenty-five years old and
the youngest member of the Assembly, his record was good and
he won the friendship and admiration of his colleagues.7 In 1840
he was defeated for re-election, but he was elected again in 1842.
At this session, he was elected Speaker of the House of Representa-
tives, a great honor for a man of twenty-nine.' In those days it
was no easy task to preside over the deliberations of men who were
accustomed to personal politics and the settlement of arguments by
force. A few years before, John Wilson, the Speaker, left the
Speaker's stand and killed J. J. Anthony on the floor of the House
'Arkansas Banner, December 25, 1844.
'History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Counties, Arkansas,
238, 241, Goodspeed Publishing Company, Chicago, 1889.
'D. T. Herndon, Outline of Executive and Legislative History of Ar-
kansas, 37, Arkansas Historical Commission Publication, 1922.
'Arkansas Banner, December 25, 1844.
8Journal of the House of Representatives of Arkansas, 1842, pages 3, 4, 5.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 33, July 1929 - April, 1930, periodical, 1930; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101090/m1/127/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.