391:, charging that the tight money economy with which it was associated served to turn "monopolists, corporationists, national bondholders, and the money changers" into "the unchallenged lords of the country." Felton was also sharply critical of the country's banking establishment and the financial system, which he accused of being "a deliberate conspiracy on the part of the creditor class to rob, defraud, and impoverish the debtor class."
318:. They had five children, one daughter and four sons. Only one, Howard Erwin Felton, survived childhood. In the aftermath of the Civil War, their plantation was destroyed. Because they were now unable to rely on slave labor as a means of producing income, Felton returned to farming as a way to earn income until there was enough money to open a school. The Feltons opened Felton Academy in Cartersville, where they both taught.
33:
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Felton took a radical political line in the 1874 race, declaring that farmers and factory workers were being exploited by a corrupt and wasteful government. In response, Felton advocated that
Georgia's common people should "hurl the public plunderers from office" and instead elect those who were
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409:— two key county seats in Felton's district. Despite these protestations, Felton did not choose to contest the result of the 1880 election, instead returning to his farm and his ministerial work.
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383:
Despite his refusal to join the formal organization, Felton shared a number of the key ideas of the
Greenbackers. In November 1877 coming out strongly for the repeal of the
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An attempt to win a fourth term of office in 1880 was unsuccessful, however, with his supporters charging that voting "irregularities" had certainly taken place in
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365:
357:, who helped direct his political campaign and contributed political commentary, frequently pseudonymous, to the daily and weekly press around the state.
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Thirteen years after his death, in 1922, his 87 year-old widow became the first woman to serve as a United States
Senator, though only for a single day.
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Felton ran for re-election in 1876 and 1878, winning election both times. He was joined in
Congress in 1878 by a fellow Independent Democrat, attorney
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in
Georgia's 7th Congressional District, located in the Northwestern part of the state. Felton ran as a reform-oriented
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In 1884 Felton once again won election to the
Georgia House of Representatives, where he would serve until 1890.
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Greenbackers, Knights of Labor, and
Populists: Farmer-Labor Insurgency in the Late-Nineteenth-Century South,
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247:, where he served as a sharp critic of commercial and financial interests and the return to the
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376:, which retained hegemonic control over Southern politics in the years after the overthrow of
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who dominated
Georgia state politics. Felton's campaign was aided by the efforts of his wife,
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In 1851, the year his first wife, Mary Anne
Carlton, died, he was elected as a member of the
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368:, although he himself never joined the organization. Nor did he choose to join the
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628:
Members of the United States House of
Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state)
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Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress, bioguide.congress.gov/
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231:(June 19, 1823 – September 24, 1909) was an American politician, army
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Independent Democrat members of the United States House of Representatives
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of Athens, who had served previously as Georgia's Solicitor General.
349:, winning election over the electoral opposition of the conservative
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He was ordained as a Methodist minister in 1857, and served as a
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minister. Felton was elected to three terms of office to the
287:, from which he graduated in 1843. He then studied at the
473:. Atlanta, Georgia: Atlanta Georgian and Sunday American.
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People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War
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William Harrell Felton was born on June 19, 1823, near
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Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2007; pg. 35.
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Felton died on September 24, 1909, and was buried in
295:for a year before spending the next seven years in
258:, who later became the first woman to serve in the
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310:). In October 1853, he married his second wife,
623:Members of the Georgia House of Representatives
534:Greenbackers, Knights of Labor, and Populists,
518:Greenbackers, Knights of Labor, and Populists,
314:; they lived at his plantation just north of
563:U.S. House of Representatives
299:practicing medicine, teaching, and farming.
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361:representatives of "the whole people."
306:, representing Cass County (now called
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457:"William Harrell Felton, (1823-1909),"
343:United States House of Representatives
241:United States House of Representatives
70:March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1881
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471:The Romantic Story of Georgia's Women
618:Physicians from Georgia (U.S. state)
569:Georgia's 7th congressional district
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673:19th-century American legislators
658:Georgia (U.S. state) Independents
638:Confederate States Army surgeons
469:Felton, Rebecca Latimer (1930).
304:Georgia House of Representatives
101:Georgia House of Representatives
372:, instead remaining within the
16:American politician (1823–1909)
663:Georgia (U.S. state) Populists
653:Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats
608:People from Lexington, Georgia
574:March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1881
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561:Member of the
546:U.S. House of Representatives
364:Felton was supportive of the
683:19th-century American clergy
633:University of Georgia alumni
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341:In 1874 Felton ran for the
262:, albeit for only one day.
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289:Medical College of Georgia
217:Medical College of Georgia
643:American Methodist clergy
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279:. Felton studied at the
678:19th-century Methodists
327:Confederate States Army
355:Rebecca Latimer Felton
256:Rebecca Latimer Felton
229:William Harrell Felton
25:William Harrell Felton
648:American slave owners
426:Cartersville, Georgia
370:Greenback Labor Party
316:Cartersville, Georgia
297:Cartersville, Georgia
281:University of Georgia
213:University of Georgia
168:Cartersville, Georgia
347:Independent Democrat
260:United States Senate
245:Independent Democrat
387:which restored the
312:Rebecca Ann Latimer
580:Judson C. Clements
555:Pierce M. B. Young
331:American Civil War
277:Lexington, Georgia
254:Felton's wife was
161:September 24, 1909
152:Lexington, Georgia
93:Judson C. Clements
81:Pierce M. B. Young
586:
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577:Succeeded by
422:Oak Hill Cemetery
407:Marietta, Georgia
351:Bourbon Democrats
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178:Oak Hill Cemetery
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552:Preceded by
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337:Political career
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184:Political party
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165:(aged 86)
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99:Member of the
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191:(Independent)
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163:(1909-09-24)
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88:Succeeded by
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603:1909 deaths
598:1823 births
396:Emory Speer
329:during the
271:Early years
76:Preceded by
592:Categories
208:Alma mater
188:Democratic
144:1823-06-19
432:Footnotes
266:Biography
237:Methodist
124:1884–1890
120:In office
113:1851–18??
109:In office
66:In office
59:district
536:pg. 37.
520:pg. 36.
325:in the
323:surgeon
293:Augusta
233:surgeon
53:Georgia
566:from
532:Hild,
516:Hild,
285:Athens
243:as an
235:, and
197:Spouse
150:near
51:from
403:Rome
158:Died
138:Born
424:in
291:in
283:in
57:7th
55:'s
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525:^
501:^
479:^
439:^
380:.
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142:(
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