Barney Semmelman

Barney Semmelman
Member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from the Clay County district
In office January 3, 1916 – 1917
Personal details
Born	(1877-01-22)January 22, 1877 Leutenberg, German Empire
Died	July 3, 1925(1925-07-03) (aged 48)

Barney Samuel Semmelman (January 22, 1877 - July 3, 1925) was a German-American politician and Democratic member of the Mississippi House of Representatives, representing Clay County, from 1916 to 1917.

Biography

Barney Samuel Semmelman was born on January 22, 1877, in Leutenberg, German Empire.[1][2] He was the son of Charles Semmelman and his wife Esther, who were paternal cousins.[2] He was Jewish.[3][1][2] He had an older brother, Herman, who died in 1912.[4] The family moved to Brooklyn when Barney was about 10 years old.[2] He and his brother came to Clay County, Mississippi, in 1898.[2][4] He was a Captain of Company G of the 2nd Ind. Battalion of the Mississippi National Guard.[2] He was elected to represent Clay County as a Democrat in the Mississippi House of Representatives in November 1915, receiving 866 out of 1300 total votes polled.[2] He resigned from this position in 1917 to serve in the US Army during World War I.[5] He died on July 3, 1925, and was buried in the Jewish section of the Friendship Cemetery in Columbus, Mississippi.[6]

References

1. "ISJL - Mississippi Columbus Jewish Cemetery List Encyclopedia". Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
2. History, Mississippi Department of Archives and (1917). The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi. Department of Archives and History. p. 845.
3. Landman, Isaac; Cohen, Simon (1942). The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia ...: An Authoritative and Popular Presentation of Jews and Judaism Since the Earliest Times. Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Incorporated. p. 589.
4. Supreme Court, Appellate Division- First Department. pp. 30–31.
5. Representatives, Mississippi Legislature House of (1918). Journal. p. 6.
6. "Friendship Cemetery Jewish section, Columbus, Lowndes County, Mississippi". usgwarchives.net. Retrieved 11 August 2023.