Leonidas Houk
Leonidas Campbell Houk (June 8, 1836 – May 25, 1891) was an Eastern Tennessee Unionist and Republican nationalist[1] who fought against Southern Confederates during the American Civil War and later represented the state's 2nd congressional district from 1879 until his death in 1891.
Political career
U.S. House of Representatives
After running as a Democrat in the 1868 elections for the House of Representatives against incumbent Radical Republican Horace Maynard and losing by a landslide,[2] Houk was victorious when running for the same seat a decade later in the 1878 midterms as a Republican,[3] and re-elected six times.[4]
In late May 1891, Houk visited a drug store and mistook a bottle of toxic arsenic for a glass of ice water, which he drank.[5] He died in pain the next day, which came as a shock to the district's constituents.[6]
References
- ↑ Schlup, Leonard (October 8, 2017). Leonidas Campbell Houk. Tennessee Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
- ↑ TN - District 02 Race - Nov 03, 1868. Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
- ↑ TN - District 02 Race - Nov 05, 1878. Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
- ↑ Candidate - Leonidas C. Houk. Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
- ↑ Hill, Ray (October 6, 2013). Congressman Leonidas Campbell Houk. The Knoxville Focus. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
- ↑ May 26, 1891. DEATH OF CONGRESSMAN HOUK.; TOOK ARSENIC BY MISTAKE FOR A GLASS OF ICE WATER.. The New York Times. Archived version available here. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
