Thomas Sutler Williams was a U.S. Representative

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...

 from Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

.

Born in Louisville, Illinois

Louisville, Illinois

Louisville is a village in Clay County, Illinois, along the Little Wabash River. The population was 1,242 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Clay County.-Geography:Louisville is located at ....

, Williams attended Willis district school, Louisville High School, and Austin College, Effingham, Illinois

Effingham, Illinois

Effingham is a city in Effingham County, Illinois, United States. The population was 12,384 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Effingham County....

.
He studied law.
He was admitted to the bar

Admission to the bar in the United States

In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...

 in 1897 and commenced practice in Louisville.
Williams was elected Louisville city attorney from 1897–1899, then served as member of the State house of representatives from 1899 to 1901.
He served as mayor of Louisville 1907-1909.
He served as prosecuting attorney of Clay County 1908-1915.
He became the owner and publisher of the Clay County Republican at Louisville in 1920.
He moved to Harrisburg, Illinois

Harrisburg, Illinois

Harrisburg is a city and township in Saline County, Illinois, United States. It is located about southwest of Evansville, Indiana, southeast of St. Louis, Missouri. The 2010 population was 9,017, with a township population of 10,790. It is the county seat of Saline County...

, in 1926.

Williams was elected as a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 to the Sixty-fourth

64th United States Congress

The Sixty-fourth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1915 to March 4, 1917, during the third and fourth...

 and to the seven succeeding Congresses. He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Commerce (Sixty-sixth Congress

66th United States Congress

The Sixty-sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, comprising the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1919 to March 4, 1921, during the last two years of...

). Williams served from March 4, 1915, until his resignation November 11, 1929, having been appointed by President Herbert Hoover

Herbert Hoover

Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...

 a judge for the Court of Claims

United States Court of Claims

The Court of Claims was a federal court that heard claims against the United States government. It was established in 1855 as the Court of Claims, renamed in 1948 to the United States Court of Claims , and abolished in 1982....

 of the United States.

While a judge, Williams' salary was reduced by the Legislative Appropriation Act of June 30, 1932, which was part of Congress's efforts to economize the costs of government during 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...

 . Williams sued the federal government, claiming that his salary could not be reduced because Section 1 of Article III of the United States Constitution forbids it. The Supreme Court ruled on Williams v. United States in 1933, deciding that the Court of Claims was an Article I

Article I and Article III tribunals

In the United States, the American legal system includes both state courts and United States federal courts. The federal tribunals may be an Article III tribunal or another adjudicative body classified as an Article I or an Article IV tribunal...

, or legislative, court and that therefore Congress had the authority to reduce the salaries of the judges of the Court of Claims.

Sutler served until his death in 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....

, April 5, 1940. He was interred in Cedar Hill Cemetery.

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