William K. Cessna was a Union Army officer, state legislator, and judge in the United States. He served as an officer with a colored regiment from Pennsylvania during the American Civil War. He served in Florida during the Civil War and settled there afterwards. He employed Josiah T. Walls in a lumber business. A Republican, he lived in Gainesville and served in the Florida House of Representatives for Alachua County in 1871 and 1872.
He was a signatory to the 1868 Florida Constitution. He made a motion to adopt a report that would have removed Liberty Billings, Charles H. Pearce and William Saunders from the convention. It failed to pass.
The governor appointed him a judge. He gave testimony in a hearing about an election. In 1874 he reported on agricultural conditions in Alachua County.
He chaired the committee preparing articles of impeachment against Harrison Reed. 1873 appointed Major and assistant quartermaster. He was accused of corruption by Democrats disparaging of "Carpetbag Rule". One account identified him as politically "rabid". He served as Alachua County Schools superintendent. Democrats filed accusations of corruption against him when he was in the legislature.
In 1878 U. S. President Rutherford B. Hayes nominated him to bepostmaster at Gainesville in Alachua County.
He was the editor and publisher of the Social Visitor in Jacksonville.
Cessna was also a farmer growing a variety of crops such as beans, tomatoes and strawberries that he sold not just to Florida but also much further north. He grew strawberries on several acres of land and was accused of selling them without paying tax on the sales. He was the first vice-president of the Fruit Growers' Association.
References
- Journal. 1872.
- History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5. B. Singerly, state printer. 1871.
- Florida's Black Public Officials, 1867-1924. University of Alabama Press. 1998. ISBN 9780817309152.
- Southern Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Era. University of Illinois Press. 1982. ISBN 9780252009297.
- Reports of Committees: 30th Congress, 1st Session - 48th Congress, 2nd Session. 1877.
- https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/FileStores/Web/HouseContent/Approved/Public%20Guide/Uploads/Documents/historical_records.pdf
- Florida: Message from the President of the United States : Transmitting Papers Relating to Proceedings in the State of Florida. 1868.
- https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/189095?id=36
- Blacks, Carpetbaggers, and Scalawags: The Constitutional Conventions of Radical Reconstruction. LSU Press. October 2008. ISBN 9780807134702.
- Testimony Taken Before the Special Committee on Investigation of the Election in Florida: Proceedings. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1877.
- Florida: Its Climate, Soil, and Productions: With a Sketch of Its History, Natural Features and Social Condition: A Manual of Reliable Information Concerning the Resources of the State and the Inducements to Immigrants. E. M. Cheney. 1869.
- ^ Carpet Bag Rule in Florida: The Inside Workings of the Reconstruction of Civil Government in Florida After the Close of the Civil War. Da Costa printing and publishing house. 1888.
- A Journal of the Proceedings of the Senate of the State of Florida at the ... Session of the Legislature. The State. 1873.
- Annual Report, Superintendent of Public Instruction, State of Florida. The Department. 1892.
- Report of the Commissioner of Education: For the year ended June 30, ... 1873 (1874). U.S. Government Printing Office. 1874.
- The American Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year. D. Appleton. 1884.
- Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States. 1901.
- N. W. Ayer & Son's American Newspaper Annual. N.W. Ayer and Son. 1892.
- "Judge W. K. Cessna selling beans and tomatoes". Pensacola Commercial. 21 May 1888. p. 1. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
- ^ "Judge W. K. Cessna". Pensacola Commercial. 25 March 1882. p. 1. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
- "Fruit Growers' Association". The Florida Agriculturist. 26 February 1879. p. 4. Retrieved 14 November 2022.