Otis Theodore Wingo (June 18, 1877 – October 21, 1930) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. representative from Arkansas's 4th congressional district from 1913 to 1930. He was the husband of his successor in office, Effiegene Wingo.

Otis Wingo
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Arkansas's 4th district
In office
March 4, 1913 – October 21, 1930
Preceded byWilliam B. Cravens
Succeeded byEffiegene Wingo
Member of the Arkansas State Senate
In office
1907-1909
Personal details
Born
Otis Theodore Wingo

(1877-06-18)June 18, 1877
Weakley County, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedOctober 21, 1930(1930-10-21) (aged 53)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Resting placeRock Creek Cemetery
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseEffiegene Locke Wingo
ChildrenBlanche Wingo[1]
Residence(s)De Queen, Arkansas, U.S.
Alma mater
OccupationAttorney

Biography

edit

Born in Weakley County in northwestern Tennessee, Wingo attended the public schools, Bethel College at McKenzie, Tennessee, the former McFerrin College at Martin in Weakley County, Tennessee, and Valparaiso University in Indiana.

Early career

edit

He taught school and studied law, having been admitted to the bar in 1900. He established his practice in De Queen in Sevier County in southwestern Arkansas. From 1907 to 1909, Wingo was a member of the Arkansas State Senate.

Congress

edit

In 1912, Wingo was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-third and to the eight succeeding Congresses, having served from March 4, 1913, until his death while undergoing surgery in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 21, 1930.

Advocacy for national park

edit

In 1927, Wingo joined his fellow Democrat, U.S. Senator Joseph Taylor Robinson, and Republican State Representative Osro Cobb of Montgomery County in proposing the establishment of a second national park in Arkansas which would have been located in the scenic Ouachita National Forest about halfway between Little Rock and Shreveport, Louisiana. The proposal, which would have been in driving distance of then some 45 million Americans, was pocket vetoed by U.S. President Calvin Coolidge.[2]

Death and burial

edit

Upon Wingo's death, Cobb was urged by his party to contest the vacant U.S. House seat in a special election, but he instead deferred to Wingo's widow, Effiegene, who served until 1933.[3]

Wingo and his wife are interred at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Mrs. Wingo had five children named "Pratt" and no mention of "Blanche." So each must have had previous marriages.
  2. ^ Osro Cobb, Osro Cobb of Arkansas: Memoirs of Historical Significance (Little Rock, Arkansas: Rose Publishing Company, 1989), pp. 42-44
  3. ^ Cobb, p. 44
  • United States Congress. "Otis Wingo (id: W000635)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

  This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Arkansas's 4th congressional district

1913-1930
Succeeded by