William Oscar ATKESON, Congress, MO (1854-1931)

ATKESON William Oscar , a Representative from Missouri; born on a farm near Buffalo, Putnam County, Va. (now West Virginia), August 24, 1854; attended the public schools and the University of Kentucky at Lexington; taught school in Mason County, W.Va., in 1874 and at New Haven, W.Va., in 1875; was graduated from Fairmont (W.Va.) Normal School in 1875; moved to Point Pleasant, W.Va., in 1876 and edited and published the West Virginia Monitor; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1877 and commenced practice in Council Grove, Kans.; moved to Rich Hill, Bates County, Mo., in 1882 and to Butler, Bates County, Mo., in 1889, and continued to practice law; prosecuting attorney of Bates County, Mo., 1891-1893; unsuccessful candidate for circuit judge of the twenty-ninth judicial circuit in 1892; owner and editor of the Butler Free Press 1894-1902; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1906 to the Sixtieth Congress and in 1908 to the Sixty-first Congress; served as deputy State hotel inspector in 1910 and 1911 and as deputy State labor commissioner 1911-1913; owner and editor of the Bates County Record 1915-1918; elected as a Republican to the Sixty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1921-March 3, 1923); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1922 to the Sixty-eighth Congress; served as State warehouse commissioner in Kansas City, Mo., from July 1, 1923, until February 5, 1925, when he resigned; resumed the practice of law and also engaged in literary pursuits; died in Butler, Mo., October 16, 1931; interment in Oak Hill Cemetery.

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