Poindexter Dunn
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Arkansas's 1st district
In office
March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1889
Preceded byLucien C. Gause
Succeeded byWilliam H. Cate
Member of the Arkansas House of Representatives
In office
1858
Personal details
BornNovember 3, 1834 (1834-11-03)
Wake County, North Carolina
DiedOctober 12, 1914 (1914-10-13) (aged 79)
Texarkana, Texas
Citizenship United States
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseEllenora Patton Dunn Anna Fussell Dunn
ChildrenAnna Mae Estes Dunn Dorothea Dunn (died as an infant in 1888.)
Alma materJackson College, Columbia, Tennessee
Profession
  • Cotton planter
  • lawyer
  • politician
  • orator
Military service
Allegiance Confederate States of America
Branch/service Confederate States Army
Rank Captain
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Poindexter Dunn (November 3, 1834 – October 12, 1914) was a Confederate Army veteran and American politician who served five terms as a U.S. Representative from Arkansas from 1879 to 1889.

Biography

Born in Wake County, North Carolina near Raleigh, Dunn was the son of Grey and Lydia Baucum Dunn. He moved with his father to Limestone County, Alabama, in 1837. He attended the country schools, and was graduated from Jackson College, Columbia, Tennessee, in 1854. He studied law, and moved to St. Francis County, Arkansas, in 1856. He married a Ms. Ellenora (also spelled Ellanora) Patton. Later, he remarried to another Arkansas resident, Anna Fussell, with whom he had two daughters, Anna Mae Estes Dunn and Dorothea Dunn who died as an infant in 1888.[1]

Career

Dunn was elected to the State house of representatives in 1858, and was a successful cotton grower until 1861. He owned slaves.[2] He served as a captain in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. Continuing his study of the law, he was admitted to the bar in 1867 and commenced the practice of law in Forrest City, Arkansas.

Elected as a Democrat to the Forty-sixth and to the four succeeding Congresses, Dunn served from March 4, 1879, to March 3, 1889.[3] He served as chairman of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries (Fiftieth Congress). Not a candidate for renomination in 1888, he moved to Los Angeles, California, and continued the practice of law.

Appointed a special commissioner for the prevention of frauds on the customs revenue, Dunn moved to New York City in 1893. He moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1895 and engaged in the construction of railroads, until he settled in Texarkana, Texas, in 1905.[4]

Death

Dunn died in Texarkana, Bowie County, Texas, on October 12, 1914 (age 79 years, 343 days). He is interred at Rose Hill Cemetery, Texarkana, Texas.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Poindexter Dunn". The Strangest Names In American Political History. 19 May 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  2. ↑ "Congress slaveowners", The Washington Post, 2022-01-19, retrieved 2022-07-11
  3. ↑ "Poindexter Dunn". Govtrack US Congress. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  4. ↑ "Poindexter Dunn". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  5. ↑ "Poindexter Dunn". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved 25 June 2013.


Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

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