September 6, 2012

William Sebastian, a native of Tennessee, represented Arkansas in the U.S. Senate from 1848 until 1861. Also a farmer, lawyer, and judge, Sebastian served his state until the Civil War ended his career. At the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, he was one of two Southern senators who did not resign their seats. He and future president Andrew Johnson were instead expelled from the Senate on July 11, 1861, along with their fellow Southerners. In 1877, twelve years after his death, the U.S. Senate revoked its resolution of expulsion and paid compensation to his heirs.

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