Walter Hampden Overton was a U.S. Representative representing Louisiana's 3rd congressional district

Louisiana's 3rd congressional district

Louisiana's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The district surrounds the southern tier of the Greater New Orleans Area. The district contains large portions of southeastern and south central Louisiana, including River Parishes and East Acadiana...

. He was born near Louisa Court House, Virginia in 1788 and moved in infancy with his father Thomas Overton

Thomas Overton

Thomas Overton was an American military and political leader best known for having been the second to Andrew Jackson in his duel with Charles Dickinson in 1806.Thomas Overton was born in Louisa County, Virginia in 1753...

 to North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, and then to 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...

 in 1801. Overton attended the common schools and entered the U.S. Army in 1808, and was promoted through the ranks to major

Major

Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

 in the Third Rifles on February 21, 1814. Major Overton was brevetted a lieutenant colonel

Lieutenant colonel

Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...

 on December 23, 1814, for actions at the Battle of New Orleans

Battle of New Orleans

The Battle of New Orleans took place on January 8, 1815 and was the final major battle of the War of 1812. American forces, commanded by Major General Andrew Jackson, defeated an invading British Army intent on seizing New Orleans and the vast territory the United States had acquired with the...

 and transferred to the Artillery Corps in May, 1815 before resigning his commission on October 31, 1815. Later, he was commissioned a major general

Major General

Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

 of militia

Militia

The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...

 by the Louisiana Legislature. Overton settled near Alexandria, Louisiana

Alexandria, Louisiana

Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....

 in Rapides Parish and served as a member of courthouse building commission in 1820 and 1821, a member of the Commission on Navigation of Bayou Rapides in 1824.

Overton was elected as a Jacksonian Democrat

Jacksonian democracy

Jacksonian democracy is the political movement toward greater democracy for the common man typified by American politician Andrew Jackson and his supporters. Jackson's policies followed the era of Jeffersonian democracy which dominated the previous political era. The Democratic-Republican Party of...

 to the Twenty-first Congress (March 4, 1829-March 3, 1831). He served one term and was not a candidate for renomination in 1830. He returned to his plantation near Alexandria, Louisiana where he died on December 24, 1845. He was buried in McNutt Hill Cemetery in Rapides Parish. Thomas Overton Moore

Thomas Overton Moore

Thomas Overton Moore was an attorney and politician who was the 16th Governor of Louisiana from 1860 until 1864 during the American Civil War.-Early years:...

, Governor of Louisiana from 1860 to 1864, was his nephew; and the politician John Holmes Overton

John H. Overton

John Holmes Overton was an attorney and Democratic United States representative and U.S. senator from Louisiana...

 was his grandson. The politician Overton Brooks

Overton Brooks

Thomas Overton Brooks was a Democratic U.S. representative from the Shreveport-based Fourth Congressional District of northwest Louisiana, having served for a quarter century beginning on January 3, 1937. Brooks was a nephew of U.S. Senator John Holmes Overton as well as a great-grandson of Walter...

was his great-grandson.