BYRNS, Joseph Wellington (1869-1936)
Democrat of Tennessee 
5th congressional district
Served in House 1909-1936
Biography
Representative from Tennessee; born near Cedar Hill, Robertson County, Tenn., July 20, 1869; attended the common schools; graduated from Nashville High School in 1887 and from the law department of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., in 1890; was admitted to the bar in 1890 and commenced the practice of law in Nashville; member of the Tennessee state house of representatives, 1895-1901; member of the Tennessee state senate, 1901-1903; unsuccessful candidate for district attorney general of Davidson County in 1902; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-first and to the thirteen succeeding Congresses and served until his death (March 4, 1909-June 4, 1936); chair, Committee on Appropriations (Seventy-second Congress); majority leader (Seventy-third Congress), Speaker of the House (Seventy-fourth Congress); chairman of the Democratic National Congressional Campaign Committee, 1928-1930; was a nominee for reelection to the Seventy-fifth Congress at the time of his death; died in Washington, D.C., on June 4, 1936; funeral services were held in the Hall of the House of Representatives; interment in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Nashville, Tenn.Courtesy of Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Notice: By custom, the Speaker of the House rarely votes. Votes for BYRNS, Joseph Wellington may appear to be missing as a result.
