James R. Waddill
American politician (1842-1917)
James Richard Waddill (November 22, 1842 – June 14, 1917) was a Democratic U.S. Representative from Missouri's 6th congressional district for one term.
Waddill was born in Springfield, Missouri, the son of Judge John S. Waddill. He attended private schools and Springfield College. Waddill supported the Union during the American Civil War, enlisted as a private in the 8th Missouri Cavalry Regiment, and resigned in 1863 as a first lieutenant. Later newspaper articles referred to him as "major" and "colonel", suggesting he continued to serve in the state militia. He was admitted to the bar in 1864, and practiced in Springfield. He was city attorney from 1866 to 1867, and prosecuting attorney for Greene County, Missouri from 1874 to 1876.
In 1878 he was elected to Congress, and he served one term, March 4, 1879 to March 3, 1881. After leaving Congress, he resumed his law practice and served on the executive committee of the Missouri State Democratic Committee. In 1893 he was appointed state superintendent of insurance, and he served until 1899.
The public source identifies “James R. Waddill” as american politician (1842-1917). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around James, Waddill and American.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1681036. VIAF identifies the subject as 86366942. The Library of Congress control number is no2009058552. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1842, 1917, 1863 and 1864.
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This entry incorporates text from “James R. Waddill” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.