by MATT HUGHESJ-E Editor
The Webster County Bar Association and Webster County Historical and Genealogical Association will sponsor an event on Monday, October 26, 2015 to honor Garrett L. Withers, the only Webster County native to serve in both the U.S. Congress and U.S. Senate.
Withers was born on his family’s farm in Webster County on June 21, 1884. He attended the Providence M. and F. Academy, before moving on to the Southern Normal School in Bowling Green, where he pursued legal training. In 1908 he was admitted to the bar and practicing law in Webster County from 1911 until his death in 1953.
He served as Webster County Circuit Court from 1910 til 1912, then took on the responsibility of master commissioner from 1913 through 1917.
Withers went on to serve as a member of the Kentucky Highway Commission between 1932-1936; as a Referee in Bankruptcy from 1941-1945; and as an appointed commissioner for the Kentucky Department of Highways between 1947-1949.
On January 20, 1949, was called on to serve his country in the United States Senate, filling a vacancy created when Democrat Alben W. Barkley, of McCracken County, resigned to become the 35th Vice President of the United States. Withers completed Barkley’s term (just under two years) but did not seek reelection.
Withers was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1951 and then won a special election to fill a vacancy when U.S. Representative John A. Whitaker died in 1952. He served as a Democrat in the Eighty-second Congress and was reelected to the Eighty-third Congress. He served from August 2, 1952, until his death in the naval hospital at Bethesda, Maryland on April 30, 1953.
The Webster County Bar Association and Webster County Historical and Genealogical Association will unveil a portrait of Withers on Monday, October 26, 2015 at 1:00 p.m. in the Webster County Circuit Courtroom in Dixon.
Reach MATT HUGHES
at 270-667-2068 or
matt@journalenterprise.com
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