James Willard RAGSDALE, Congress, SC (1872-1919)

RAGSDALE, James Willard, a Representative from South Carolina; born in Timmonsville, Florence County, S.C., December 14, 1872; attended the public schools; employed in a railroad office at Wilmington, N.C., for several years; attended the University of South Carolina at Columbia; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1898 and commenced practice in Florence, Florence County, S.C.; engaged in agricultural pursuits and banking; trustee of the South Carolina Industrial School; member of the State house of representatives 1899-1900; member of the State senate 1902-1904; unsuccessful candidate for attorney general of South Carolina and for election in 1910 to the Sixty-second Congress; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-third and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1913, until his death in Washington, D.C., July 23, 1919; interment in Mount Hope Cemetery, Florence, S.C.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present