Changes

|death_date=March 30, 1936 (aged 66)

|death_date=March 30, 1936 (aged 66)

|resting_place=Lubbock City Cemetery​

|resting_place=Lubbock City Cemetery​

|spouse=(1) Alice Eugenia Collins Bledsoe​ (married 1895-1915, died in childbirth)<br>

|spouse=(1) Alice Eugenia Collins Bledsoe​ (married 1895-1915, died two months after birth of fourth child)<br>

(2) Emma K. Boone Bledsoe

(2) Emma K. Boone Bledsoe

|children='''From first marriage'':<br>

|children='''From first marriage'':<br>

Alice Bledsoe Lee<br>

Alice Bledsoe Lee<br>

Lois Glenna Bledsoe<br>

Lois Glenna Bledsoe<br>

Louise Bledsoe<br>

Louise W. Bledsoe<br>

'''From second marriage''':<br>

'''From second marriage''':<br>

Willis Harrison Bledsoe

Willis Harrison Bledsoe

Bledsoe was born in Cleburne in Johnson County south of [[Fort Worth]], the fifth of six children of Willis Scott Bledsoe (1837–1877), a Democratic member of the Texas House for District 23 with service from 1873 to 1874.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lrl.texas.gov/legeLeaders/members/memberDisplay.cfm?memberID=2207&searchparams=chamber=~city=~countyID=0~RcountyID=~district=~first=William~gender=~last=Bledsoe~leaderNote=~leg=~party=~roleDesc=~Committee=|title=William Harrison Bledsoe|publisher=Texas Legislative Reference Library|accessdate=May 31, 2020}}</ref> His mother, the former Susan Frances Harrison (1840-1909), a native of Overton County, [[Tennessee]], and known as Sue F. Bledsoe,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=18987771|title=Susan Francis Harrison Bledsoe|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=May 31, 2020}}</ref> was widowed when William was eight years of age; his oldest living sibling, a sister, Nellie Bledsoe Templeton (1864–1941), was then thirteen. His younger brother, Albert Sydney Bledsoe (1871–1913), was born and died in Cleburne and was married to the former Nettie McQueen.<ref name=findagrave>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7854482|title=William Harrison Bledsoe|publisher=findagrave.com|author=David Sifford|date=September 9, 2003|accessdate=May 31, 2020}}</ref>​

Bledsoe was born in Cleburne in Johnson County south of [[Fort Worth]], the fifth of six children of Willis Scott Bledsoe (1837–1877), a Democratic member of the Texas House for District 23 with service from 1873 to 1874.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lrl.texas.gov/legeLeaders/members/memberDisplay.cfm?memberID=2207&searchparams=chamber=~city=~countyID=0~RcountyID=~district=~first=William~gender=~last=Bledsoe~leaderNote=~leg=~party=~roleDesc=~Committee=|title=William Harrison Bledsoe|publisher=Texas Legislative Reference Library|accessdate=May 31, 2020}}</ref> His mother, the former Susan Frances Harrison (1840-1909), a native of Overton County, [[Tennessee]], and known as Sue F. Bledsoe,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=18987771|title=Susan Francis Harrison Bledsoe|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=May 31, 2020}}</ref> was widowed when William was eight years of age; his oldest living sibling, a sister, Nellie Bledsoe Templeton (1864–1941), was then thirteen. His younger brother, Albert Sydney Bledsoe (1871–1913), was born and died in Cleburne and was married to the former Nettie McQueen.<ref name=findagrave>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7854482|title=William Harrison Bledsoe|publisher=findagrave.com|author=David Sifford|date=September 9, 2003|accessdate=May 31, 2020}}</ref>​

Bledsoe was twice married. In 1895, he wed the former Alice Eugenia Collins Bledsoe, the mother of four of his five children, William Scott Bledsoe, Alice Bledsoe Lee, and Lois Glenna Bledsoe, and . His firs wife died in childbirth in February 1905. He then wed the former Emma K. Boone, who bore him another son, Willis Harrison Bledsoe.<ref name=findagrave/>

Bledsoe was twice married. In 1895, he wed the former Alice Eugenia Collins (18, the mother of four of his five children, William Scott Bledsoe, Alice Bledsoe Lee, and Lois Glenna Bledsoe, and Louise W. Bledsoe. Alice died two months after Louise's birth in 1905. He then wed the former Emma K. Boone, who bore him another son, Willis Harrison Bledsoe.<ref name=findagrave/>

==Political life==

==Political life==

From 1925 to 1927, in the 39th legislative session, Bledsoe was the Senate President pro tempore in the administration of Governor Miriam Amanda Wallace Ferguson (1875-1951), wife of former Governor Jim Ferguson. In 1927, Bledsoe was injured in an automobile accident. On retirement, he attributed the location of Texas Tech to the work of the citizens of the South Plains and Lubbock County.<ref name=findagrave/>​

From 1925 to 1927, in the 39th legislative session, Bledsoe was the Senate President pro tempore in the administration of Governor Miriam Amanda Wallace Ferguson (1875-1951), wife of former Governor Jim Ferguson. In 1927, Bledsoe was injured in an automobile accident. On retirement, he attributed the location of Texas Tech to the work of the citizens of the South Plains and Lubbock County.<ref name=findagrave/>​

Bledsoe died in the early spring of 1936 at the age of sixty-six. He is interred at Lubbock City Cemetery. ''The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal'' voted Bledsoe the eighth most influential Lubbock residents of the 20th century.<ref name=findagrave/>​

Bledsoe died in the early spring of 1936 at the age of sixty-six. He is interred at Lubbock City Cemetery. ''The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal'' voted Bledsoe the eighth most influential Lubbock residents of the 20th century.

His grave markers carries this inscription: "Because of his life, future generations have an inheritance that cannot be bought with a price."<ref name=findagrave/>

==References==

==References==