Sims, Leonard Henly [1]
Sims, Leonard Henly
6 Feb. 1807–28 Feb. 1886
Leonard Henly Sims, congressman and farmer, was born in Burke County [2], the son of Dr. Swepson and Jane Meriwether Lewis Sims. The younger Sims, who received a limited amount of schooling, moved to Rutherford County, Tenn., in 1830 and became a farmer. He was also a member of the Tennessee State House of Representatives [3] for two terms.
In 1839 he moved to Springfield, Green County, Mo., and continued his agricultural pursuits. From 1842 to 1846 he was a member of the Missouri State House of Representatives. Elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri, Sims served in the Twenty-ninth Congress from 4 Mar. 1845 to 3 Mar. 1847. In the latter year he returned to Rutherford County, Tenn., to continue farming, and in 1848 he was a presidential elector for Tennessee on the Democratic ticket of Lewis Cass and William Orlando Butler.
In 1859 Sims relocated to Independence County, Ark., where he settled on a farm near Batesville and engaged in cotton planting and farming. He also served in the Arkansas State Senate [4] during 1866–70 and 1874–78.
On 8 Dec. 1824 Sims married Louisa Batey. They had eleven children. He died on his plantation near Batesville, Ark., and was buried in the family graveyard.
References:
Biog. Dir. Am. Cong. [5] (1950).
Biog. Dir. Tenn. General Assembly [6] (1975).
Who Was Who in America, 1607–1896.
Additional Resources:
Onofrio, Jan. Missouri Biographical Dictionary (Third Edition). third ed. Missouri: North American Book Dist LLC, 2001. http://books.google.com/books/about/Missouri_Biographical_Dictionary_Third_E.html?id=0oOueph_raYC [7] (accessed July 23, 2014).
Sims, Leonard Henly. 1846. Speech of Mr. Leonard H. Sims, of Missouri, on the Oregon question delivered in the House of Representatives, U.S., January 5, 1846. [Washington?: s.n.]. https://archive.org/details/cihm_17203 [8] (accessed July 24, 2014).
Sims, Leonard Henly. 1846. Speech on the bill of making appropriations fro the army; delivered in the House of Representatives, U.S., May 14, 1846. [Washington]: J. & G.S. Gideon, printers. https://www.worldcat.org/title/speech-on-the-bill-making-appropriations-for-the-army-delivered-in-the-house-of-representatives-us-may-14-1846/oclc/02693641 [9]3 (accessed July 24, 2014).
1 January 1994 | Sims, E. Thomas