Member, California Constitutional Convention, 1849, and U.S. senator from California.
William M. Gwin was born in Tennessee. In 1833 he was appointed U.S. marshal, district of Mississippi by President Jackson; in 1840 he was elected to the House of Representatives for one term. Coming to California in 1849, he worked to form a state government, representing San Francisco at the constitutional convention. Elected California's first senator, he served 1850-1861. A Chivalry Democrat, he defended slavery, feuding with fellow Democrat Senator David C. Broderick in his later term.
U.S. representative from Missouri and senator from California.
Member of the California Constitutional Convention, 1849; U.S. Senator from California, 1850-1855, 1857-1861.
William McKendree Gwin (1805-1885) was born in Gallatin, Tennessee, and attended medical school at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, until 1828. He practiced medicine in Mississippi until 1833, was U.S. Marshal for Mississippi in 1834, and served in Congress from 1841-1843. After briefly acting as a building superintendant in New Orleans, he traveled to California in 1849 and participated in the California Constitutional Convention. Gwin had suffered financial misfortune but the discovery of gold at his Gwin Mine in Paloma provided him with a lifelong fortune. After California was admitted as a state Gwin was elected to the U.S. Senate and served from 1850-1855. He died in New York City.
William McKendree Gwin served as a Mississippi court marshal, 1833-1841, as a US representative from Mississippi, 1841-1843, and as a US senator from California, 1854-1860. He is credited with establishing the California mint and initiating plans to survey the Pacific coast.
First U.S. senator from California, a democrat who supported slavery.