John Newsome

John Parks Newsome (born February 13, 1893 in Memphis, Tennessee; died November 10, 1961 in Birmingham) was president of an electrical company and Representative from Alabama in the 78th United States Congress.

Newsome, the son of John Parks and Mary Glass Newsome of Memphis, attended public schools at Thompsons Station, Tennessee and the Battle Ground Academy in Franklin, Tennessee. In 1912 he began working at a wholesale hardware company as a stock clerk. He was promoted to salesman in 1913, and continued there until his commission as a 1st Lietuenant on November 27, 1917 for service in World War I.

Newsome was promoted to Infantry Captain, 5th Division and served overseas until his discharge on April 29, 1919. He returned to his sales job briefly before leaving in 1920 to become president of the Watts-Newsome Co. in Birmingham. He later founded the Southern Lighting Company and John Parks Newsome Inc., a furniture wholesaler.

Newsome chaired the Selective Service System's Appeals Board No. 2 for Alabama in 1942 and 1943. In the 1942 Democratic Primary he defeated three-term incumbent Luther Patrick in the contest to represent Birmingham in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was sworn into the 78th congress on January 3, 1943 and served one two-year term. With support from labor unions, Patrick defeated Newsome's bid for renomination in the 1944 Democratic primary election and returned to Washington for one more term.

In 1953 Newsome was elected president of the Associated Industries of Alabama. He also served on the boards of directors of the Exchange Security Bank and the Alabama Gas Corporation.

Newsome died in November 1961 and is buried at Elmwood Cemetery.

Preceded by: Luther Patrick

Representative, 9th Congressional District of Alabama 1943 - 1945

Succeeded by: Luther Patrick

References

• "John P. Newsome" (March 14, 2015) Wikipedia - accessed June 9, 2015

External links

• John Parks Newsome at Findagrave.com