Boswell DeGraffenreid Waddell (1865-1937), Boswell Sommerfield Elliott (1855-1933)

Portrait from the "History of Alabama and Her People", Vol. III.

   Alabama has fielded a number of oddly named folks featured here in the past, and Boswell DeGraffenreid Waddell (a multi-term state representative and senator), is certainly one of the most uniquely named men to serve in some political capacity in the "Heart of Dixie."  I first located Waddell's name via a 1912 Alabama statistical register way back in 2009 and since that time he continually stymied me out of a photograph; that was until the discovery of the above portrait, featured in Volume III of Albert Burton Moore's History of Alabama and Her People, published in 1927.

   A native of Columbus, Georgia, Boswell DeGraffenreid Waddell was born in that city on August 25, 1865, being the eldest son of James Fleming Waddell and the former Adelaide Victoria DeGraffenreid. A distinguished figure in his own right, James F. Waddell (1828-1892) was a veteran of both the Mexican-American and Civil War and was later named U.S. Consul in Matamoras, Mexico. Waddell would also serve as a judge of probate for Russell County, Alabama (having settled there in 1857) and held that post from 1865-68. 

   Boswell DeG. Waddell attended the public schools of Russell County and also studied at a private school in Columbus, Georgia. After leaving school Waddell briefly worked as a civil engineer before deciding upon a career in law, beginning study in the law office of his father. He was admitted to the Alabama bar in 1887 and shortly thereafter began a practice in Seale that would extend over forty years. In the same year as his admission, Waddell took on the post of deputy solicitor for Russell County, an office he'd continue to hold well into the late 1920s.

  In 1889 Waddell was elected to the first of two terms as mayor of Seale, and in 1901 served as Russell County's delegate to the Alabama Constitutional Convention, being a member of the committees on local legislation and the militia during the convention proceedings. Waddell continued to advance politically in November 1902, when he won election to the Alabama House of Representatives. Serving during the 1903-07 session, Waddell was named to the committees on the Judiciary, Privileges and Elections, Local Legislation and Commerce, and Common Carriers. On May 12, 1909, Waddell married to Carrie B. Jennings, a music teacher. The couple were wed until Boswell's death and would remain childless.

  Waddell would win his second term in the house in 1910 and his sophomore term in the legislature (1911-15) saw him named to two new committees, those being Claims and Fees, and Game, Fish and Forestry Preservation (of which he was chairman). November 1918 saw Waddell win his third term in the state house and was a member of the committee on Enrolled Bills during the 1919-23 term.

   In November 1922 Waddell attained his highest degree of political prominence when he was elected to the first of two terms in the Alabama state senate. During those sessions (1923-27 and 1927-31) he was a member of the committees on Fish, Game, and Forestry; the Judiciary; Public Health; and Rules. In addition to public service Waddell was active in the Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Alabama Bar Association, and also owned a three hundred acre farm near Seale. He continued political prominence well into his twilight years, and in 1935 was serving as county solicitor for Russell County. 

  Boswell DeGraffenreid Waddell died at age 72 on November 22, 1937. His wife Carrie survived her husband by six years, and following her death in 1943 was interred alongside him in the Waddell family plot at the Seale United Methodist Church and Cemetery.

Portrait from the Mississippi Official and Statistical Register, 1920-24.

   Lifelong Mississippian Boswell Sommerfield Elliott represented his native county of Grenada in the Mississippi state legislature at the same time Boswell DeG. Waddell was serving his third term in the Alabama House of Representatives. The son of Alexander and Mary (Shumake) Elliott, Boswell S. Elliott was born in Carroll County, Mississippi on September 21, 1855. He attended the common schools of Mississippi and married in February 1877 to Rebecca Frances Woods (1854-1953), with whom he had five children, James, Nora (1891-1942), Willard Lee,  Johnnie (1894-1978), and Mary Lois. 

   For the good majority of his life, Boswell Elliott followed farming in Granada County. From 1900-03 he held the office of county treasurer, was a justice of the peace, and beginning in 1914 served as a statistician for the federal government, compiling cotton statistics for Granada County. Elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1919, Elliott served in the 1920-24 session and was a member of the committees on Agriculture; the Penitentiary; Pensions; and Roads, Ferries, and Bridges. 

   Little is known of Elliott's life after leaving the legislature. He had been a longstanding member of the local Methodist church and held memberships in the Masonic order and the Modern Woodmen of the World. Elliott died on March 23, 1933, aged 77, and was later buried at the Sparta Cemetery in Holcomb, Mississippi.