Poindexter Dunn
{{short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Poindexter Dunn
| birthname = Poindexter Dunn
| state1 = Arkansas
| district1 = 1st
| term_start1 = March 4, 1879
| term_end1 = March 3, 1889
| preceded1 = Lucien C. Gause
| succeeded1 = William H. Cate
| office2 = Member of the Arkansas House of Representatives
| term2 = 1858
| birth_date = {{birth date text|November 3, 1834}}
| death_date = {{death-date and age|October 12, 1914|November 3, 1834}}
| restingplace = Rose Hill Cemetery, Texarkana, Texas
| birth_place = Wake County, North Carolina, United States
| death_place = Texarkana, Texas
| spouse = {{ubl
| Ellenora Patton Dunn
| Anna Fussell Dunn
}}
| children = {{ubl
| Anna Mae Estes Dunn
| Dorothea Dunn (died as an infant in 1888.)
}}
| profession = {{hlist|Cotton planter|lawyer|politician|orator}}
| party = Democrat
| alma_mater = Jackson College, Columbia, Tennessee
| residence =
| nickname =
| allegiance = {{flag|Confederate States of America}}
| branch = {{army|CSA}}
| service_years =
| rank = 35px Captain
| unit =
| commands =
| battles = American Civil War
| awards =
}}
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.{{cite web|title=Poindexter Dunn|date=19 May 2013 |url=http://politicalstrangenames.blogspot.com/2013/05/poindexter-dunn-1834-1914.html|publisher=The Strangest Names In American Political History|access-date=25 June 2013}}
Career
Dunn was elected to the State house of representatives in 1858, and was a successful cotton grower until 1861. He owned slaves.{{Citation|title=Congress slaveowners|date=2022-01-19|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/interactive/2022/congress-slaveowners-names-list/|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2022-07-11}} 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.
= Congress =
Elected as a Democrat to the Forty-sixth and to the four succeeding Congresses, Dunn served from March 4, 1879, to March 3, 1889.{{cite web|title=Poindexter Dunn|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/poindexter_dunn/403659|publisher=Govtrack US Congress|access-date=25 June 2013}} 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.
= Later career =
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.{{cite web|title=Poindexter Dunn|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=D000552|publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date=25 June 2013}}
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.{{cite web|title=Poindexter Dunn|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/dunn.html|publisher=The Political Graveyard|access-date=25 June 2013}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{CongBio|D000552}}
- {{Find a Grave|7785499}}
- [http://politicalstrangenames.blogspot.com/2013/05/poindexter-dunn-1834-1914.html The Strangest Names In American Political History]
{{Bioguide}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{US House succession box
| state=Arkansas
| district=1
| before=Lucien C. Gause
| years=1879–1889
| after=William H. Cate}}
{{end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{US House Merchant Marine and Fisheries chairs}}
{{U.S. Arkansas Representatives}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Poindexter}}
Category:People from Wake County, North Carolina
Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas
Category:American cotton plantation owners
Category:19th-century American planters
Category:Confederate States Army officers
Category:People of Arkansas in the American Civil War
Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves
Category:19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives
Category:19th-century members of the Arkansas General Assembly