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William Crosby Dawson

Gender:
Male
Born:
January 4, 1798
Died:
May 6, 1856
Home Town:
Greensboro , GA
Later Residences:
Greensboro, GA
Marriage(s):
Henrietta Wingfield Dawson (1819)
Eliza Williams Dawson (November 1854)
Biographical Notes:
William Crosby Dawson was the son of George Dawson, a British soldier during the Revolution who deserted and fled to North Carolina. He married Ruth Skidmore. Dawson was first taught by Rev. Dr. Cumming and then continued his education at the Academy in Greensboro County, GA. Dawson graduated from Franklin College, later the University of Georgia, in 1816 at the age of eighteen. After graduation he studied law for a year at the office of the Hon. Thomas W. Cobb in Lexington, GA. He then completed his legal studies at the Litchfield Law School. In 1818 he was admitted to the bar in Greensboro, GA. The following year he married his first wife. They had eight children together and she died in 1850. Dawson later remarried in 1854. During this life, Dawson pursued a long and eminent politcal as ...
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Education
Years at LLS:
1817
Other Education:
Studied with Rev. Dr. Cumming and graduated from Franklin College (later the University of Georgia) in 1816.
Profession / Service
Profession:
Lawyer; Political Office
Admitted To Bar:
1816
Training with Other Lawyers:
In 1816 prior to attending the Litchfield Law School he read the law in the office of Thomas W. Cobb in Lexington, GA.
Political Party:
Whig
Federal Posts:
U.S. Representative (GA) 1836-1841
U.S. Senator (GA) 1849-1855
Federal Committees:
Chairman of the Committee on Mileage from 1837-1838. Member of the Committtee on Claims in 1839 and 1840. Member of the Committee on Military Affairs from 1841-1842. And, Chairman of the Committee on Private Land Claims in 1851 and 1852.
State Posts:
Clerk of the State House of Representatives (GA) 1821-1834
State Senator (GA) 1834-1835
Local Posts:
Judge of the Superior Court (Ocmulgee District, GA) 1845
Related Objects and Documents
Other:
Johnson family papers, 1722-1863
help The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation.

Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.
CITATION OF ATTENDANCE:
Houghton, Josiah. "LLS Law Notebook 1817-1818." Litchfield Law School Collection, Series 1, Subseries 1, Litchfield Historical Society. Available online at https://archive.org/stream/35102011793091#page/n11/mode/2up.
Secondary Sources:
Dawson, Charles Carroll. A Record of the Descendants of Robert Dawson of East Haven, Conn. New York: Russells' American Steam Printing House, 1871.; Dawson, Charles C. A Collection of Family Records. Albany, NY: Joel Munsell, 1874.
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