William F. Yardley

William F. Yardley
Born
William Francis Yardley

(1844-01-08)January 8, 1844[1]
Knoxville, Tennessee, US
DiedMay 20, 1924(1924-05-20) (aged 80)
Knoxville, Tennessee, US
Resting placeOdd Fellows Cemetery, Knoxville[2]
OccupationAttorney
Political partyRepublican[3]
SpouseElizabeth Stone

William Francis Yardley (January 8, 1844 – May 20, 1924) was an American attorney, politician and civil rights advocate, operating primarily out of Knoxville, Tennessee, in the late 19th century. He was Tennessee's first African-American gubernatorial candidate, and is believed to have been the first African-American attorney to argue a case before the Tennessee Supreme Court.[3] He published a newspaper, the Examiner, that promoted African-American rights, and was an advocate for labor and the poor both as an attorney and as a politician.[3]

  1. ^ Robert Booker, William Francis Yardley, Tennessee State University Digital Library. Retrieved: 1 November 2012.
  2. ^ Knox Heritage, Fragile Fifteen, No. 14: Odd Fellows Cemetery. Retrieved: 5 April 2011.
  3. ^ a b c Lewis Laska, William F. Yardley, Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2009. Retrieved April 5, 2011.