Representative William James Purman

William James Purman (April 11, 1840 – August 14, 1928) was a Republican politician and attorney who represented Florida in the United States House of Representatives from 1873 to 1877, serving two terms during the Reconstruction era. In addition to his congressional service, he was a member of both the Florida Senate and the Florida House of Representatives and held a series of influential party and federal positions in the state.

Purman was born in Millheim, Centre County, Pennsylvania, and was educated in the local common schools before completing his studies at Aaronsburg Academy, also in Centre County. After leaving school, he taught in the public schools and studied law in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. At the outbreak of the American Civil War, he entered Union service as a private and was assigned to special duty at the War Department in Washington, D.C. In 1865 he was transferred to Florida, a move that marked the beginning of his long political and professional association with that state.

Following the war, Purman settled in Florida and became active in the state’s Reconstruction politics. He was admitted to the bar in 1868 and commenced the practice of law in Tallahassee. That same year he served as a member of the Florida constitutional convention of 1868, which framed a new state constitution in the aftermath of the Civil War. His prominence in Republican politics grew rapidly, and he became known as a strong supporter of African American political participation, appointing many African Americans to federal positions in Florida.

Purman’s early political career in Florida included service in the Florida State Senate from 1869 to 1872. In 1869 he was appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state senate as secretary of state of Florida, but he declined to accept the office. Also in 1869 he served as chairman of the Florida Commission charged with negotiating the proposed transfer of West Florida to the State of Alabama, a transfer that was ultimately not ratified by Alabama. During this period he was assessor of United States internal revenue for the district of Florida from 1870 to 1872, chairman of the Republican State committee from 1870 to 1872, and later a member of the Republican National Committee from 1876 to 1880.

Purman’s prominence and his advocacy for Reconstruction policies made him a target of violent opposition. In 1868 he narrowly escaped an assassin’s bullet in an attack that killed his brother-in-law, a former surgeon in the Confederate Army. The two men had been at odds over Purman’s political activities, including his appointment of African Americans to federal jobs. Purman later testified before the U.S. Congress during hearings on the Ku Klux Klan, stating that not one person had ever been arrested for the group’s crimes in Florida, underscoring the climate of impunity and racial violence in the state during Reconstruction.

Purman was elected as a Republican to the Forty-third Congress and served from March 4, 1873, until his resignation on January 25, 1875. He was then elected to the Florida House of Representatives for one session, but resigned that state legislative seat when he was elected to the Forty-fourth Congress, in which he served from March 4, 1875, to March 3, 1877. His tenure in the House coincided with the waning years of Reconstruction, and he participated in the legislative process during a significant and contentious period in American history, representing the interests of his Florida constituents in the federal legislature. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1876 to the Forty-fifth Congress.

During his time in national politics, Purman’s conduct in office came under scrutiny. A report dated July 28, 1876, from the House Committee on Reform in the Civil Service recommended that he be investigated for his appointment of timber agents in Florida. The committee found that these agents never performed any service under their appointments except to draw their pay; that in some instances Purman notified them beforehand that they would have nothing to do; that they, so far as the evidence showed, never visited the federal timber reservations nor knew their locations; that the offices were mere sinecures; and that the appointments were made for political effect and purposes only.

After his defeat and the end of his congressional service, Purman returned in 1878 to his native Millheim, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits. He remained involved in Republican politics for a time through his service on the Republican National Committee, but gradually withdrew from public life. In 1883 he moved to Boston, Massachusetts, and later relocated to Washington, D.C., where he lived in retirement. William James Purman died in Washington on August 14, 1928. His remains were cremated, and his ashes were placed in a vault at Glenwood Cemetery in the District of Columbia.