Thetus Willrette Sims was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 for the 8th congressional district

Tennessee's 8th congressional district

The 8th Congressional District of Tennessee is a congressional district in Tennessee. It currently includes roughly the northwestern part of the state....

 of Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

. He was born on April 25, 1852 near Waynesboro, Tennessee

Waynesboro, Tennessee

Waynesboro is a city in and the county seat of Wayne County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,449 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Waynesboro is located at ....

 in Wayne County

Wayne County, Tennessee

As of the census of 2010, there were 17,021 people, 5,822 households, and 4,321 families residing in the county. The population density was 23 people per square mile . There were 6,701 housing units at an average density of 9 per square mile...

. He attended a private school at Martin Mills and moved with his parents to Savannah, Tennessee

Savannah, Tennessee

Savannah is a city in Hardin County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 6,917 at the 2000 census and the 2007 population estimate was 7,262. It is the county seat of Hardin County. Savannah hosted the NAIA college football national championship game from 1996-2007. Savannah is home to...

 in Hardin County

Hardin County, Tennessee

Hardin County is a county located in the U.S. State of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 26,026. The Hardin County seat is Savannah. The county was named posthumously for Col. Joseph Hardin, a Revolutionary War soldier and a legislative representative for the Province of North Carolina and...

 in 1862. He attended Savannah (Tennessee) College and graduated from Cumberland School of Law

Cumberland School of Law

Cumberland School of Law is an ABA accredited law school at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. The 11th oldest law school in the United States, it is 160 years old and has more than 11,000 graduates. Its alumni include two United States Supreme Court Justices; Nobel Peace Prize recipient...

 at Cumberland University

Cumberland University

Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1842, though the current campus buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896.-History:...

 in Lebanon, Tennessee

Lebanon, Tennessee

Lebanon is a city in Wilson County, Tennessee, in the United States. The population was 20,235 at the 2000 census. It serves as the county seat of Wilson County. Lebanon is located in middle Tennessee, approximately 25 miles east of downtown Nashville. Local residents have also called it...

 in June 1876. He was admitted to the bar

Bar association

A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...

 the same year. He commenced practice in Linden, Tennessee

Linden, Tennessee

Linden is a town in and the county seat of Perry County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,015 at the 2000 census. Linden was officially incorporated in 1850.Linden is served by Perry County Airport, located 3.5 miles to the southwest....

 in Perry County. He was the superintendent

Superintendent (education)

In education in the United States, a superintendent is an individual who has executive oversight and administration rights, usually within an educational entity or organization....

 of public instruction for Perry County, Tennessee from 1882 to 1884.

Thetus Sims was elected to the House in the fall of 1896 as a Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

. He was reelected to the eleven succeeding Congresses.

• 1897-1899 - 55th Congress Freshman term in the House.
• 1911-1913 - 62nd Congress He was the chairman of the United States House Committee on War Claims.
• 1917-1919 - 65th Congress He was the chairman of the United States House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce.
• 1920 - He failed to win the election in 1920 for the 67th Congress (1921-1923).

His tenure in the House lasted for 12 terms in office from from March 4, 1897 to March 3, 1921.

He returned to Tennessee and resumed the practice of law in Lexington, Tennessee

Lexington, Tennessee

Lexington is a city in Henderson County, Tennessee, United States. Lexington is midway between Memphis and Nashville, lying ten miles south of Interstate 40, which connects the two cities. The population was 7,393 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Henderson County...

 in Henderson County for a few years. He retired from active business pursuits in 1930 shortly after the beginning of the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 and returned to Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, where he died on . He was interred

Burial

Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...

 in Rock Creek Cemetery

Rock Creek Cemetery

Rock Creek Cemetery — also Rock Creek Church Yard and Cemetery — is an cemetery with a natural rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, off Hawaii Avenue, NE in Washington, D.C.'s Michigan Park neighborhood, near Washington's Petworth neighborhood...

in Washington, D.C.

Sources