William Dallas BYNUM, Congress, IN (1846-1927)

BYNUM William Dallas , a Representative from Indiana; born near Newberry, Greene County, Ind., June 26, 1846; attended the country schools, and was graduated from the University of Indiana at Bloomington in 1869; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1872 and commenced practice in Washington, Ind.; served as the first city clerk; city attorney of Washington, Ind., 1871-1875; mayor of Washington, Ind., 1875-1879; moved from Daviess County to Indianapolis in 1880; member of the Indiana state house of representatives, 1881-1885, and served as speaker in 1885; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-ninth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1885-March 3, 1895); served for some time as whip of the Democratic minority; censured by the U.S. House of Representatives on May 17, 1890, for the use of unparliamentary language; unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Fifty-fourth Congress in 1894; was active in the organization of the National (Gold-Standard) Democratic Party in 1896, and was chairman of its national committee, 1896-1898; settled in Washington, D.C.; appointed by President William McKinley to the commission to codify the United States criminal laws, 1900-1906; retired from the practice of law; died on October 21, 1927, in Indianapolis, Ind.; interment in Oak Grove Cemetery, Washington, Ind.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present