William J. Purman

Who was William J. Purman?

William James Purman was a Republican US Representative from Florida.

Born in Millheim, Centre County, Pennsylvania; attended the common schools and completed his studies at Aaronsburg Academy, Centre County, Pa.; taught school; studied law at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania; during the American Civil War entered the Union Army as a private and served on special duty at the War Department until transferred to Florida in 1865; was admitted to the bar in 1868 and commenced practice in Tallahassee, Florida; member of the State constitutional convention in 1868; barely escaped an assassin's bullet in 1869 which left his brother-in-law, a former surgeon in the Confederate army, dead; served in the Florida State Senate 1869-1872; appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the State senate as secretary of state in 1869, but declined; chairman of the Florida Commission in 1869 for entering into negotiations for transfer of West Florida to the State of Alabama, which transfer was not ratified by Alabama; assessor of United States internal revenue for the district of Florida 1870–1872; chairman of the Republican State committee 1870–1872; member of the Republican National Committee 1876–1880; elected as a Republican to the Forty-third United States Congress and served from March 4, 1873, to January 25, 1875, when he resigned; member of the Florida House of Representatives for one session and resigned when elected to Congress; elected to the Forty-fourth United States Congress; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1876 to the Forty-fifth United States Congress; returned in 1878 to Millheim, Pa., and engaged in agricultural pursuits; moved to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1883; moved to Washington, D.C., where he lived in retirement until his death; the remains were cremated and the ashes deposited in a vault at Glenwood Cemetery.