Introduction
William Simpson Oldham Sr. (July 19, 1813 – May 8, 1868) was a politician in the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.
Early life
Oldham was born on July 19, 1813 in Franklin County, Tennessee.
Career
He served in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1838 and was later a Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court in 1842. He represented Texas in the Provisional Confederate Congress from 1861 to 1862, and was a senator in the First Confederate Congress and Second Confederate Congress from 1862 to 1865.
Death
He died on May 8, 1868.
Legacy
Oldham County, Texas was named in his honor. In Harry Turtledove's 1994 alternative history novel, Guns of the South, a "Congressman Oldham" from Texas is mentioned as sponsoring a bill to re-enslave freedmen in a victorious Confederacy. Since the setting was the time of the 2nd Confederate Congress, it is likely that Turtledove was referring to Senator Oldham.