W. L. Mhoon

W. L. Mhoon, also known as William L. Moon (1879–1950), was an American lawyer and politician in Jackson, Mississippi. He was one of two African American lawyers licensed in the state of Mississippi in the mid-1940s.^[1] Mhoon was a black-and-tan member of the Mississippi Republican Party.^[2][3][4]

Biography

Mhoon was born in 1879. He began practicing law in Mississippi in 1907.^[2] Mhoon started his legal career at the Mhoon, Burns, and Levy firm.^[2] He also had partnered with Perry Wilbon Howard II, and had his own practice.^[2] Mhoon was described as humble and modest in his professional career.^[5]

By 1909, there were twenty-two Black lawyers in Mississippi.^[6] He reportedly appeared white, but did not try cases in court himself due to limitations imposed on the few black lawyers working in Mississippi.^[6] Many of the Black lawyers left the state in the 1930s after lawyer Sidney Dillon Redmond's legal issues and disbarment.^[1] In 1941, his office was at 119-1/2 North Farish Street in Jackson, Mississippi.^[7] By 1944, Mhoon was one of two African American lawyers in the state, the other being Taylor G. Ewing of Vicksburg.^[1] Mhoon also worked in the insurance business and in Black voter registration efforts in c. 1949.^[8]

He was a delegate from Mississippi to the 1924 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.^[9] He was also a delegate at the 1928 Republican National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri.^[10]

Mhoon died of a stroke on April 10, 1950,^[2] and is buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Jackson.

Personal life

He was married to Annie E. Moman, and had a daughter. He was Catholic.^[2] His wife filed a slander lawsuit in 1941 against Dr. A. H. McCoy after an article in Percy Greene's newspaper, The Jacksonville Advocate.^[11] After Mhoon's death in 1950, his widow Annie married Buddy Baldwin Dansby, the fourth president of Jackson State University.^[12]

See also

• National Negro Bar Association

References

1. Smith Jr., John Clay (1999). Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 298–300. ISBN 978-0-8122-1685-1.
2. "Miss. Lawyer, W. L. Mhoon Dies At Jackson". Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program. Indianapolis Recorder. 22 April 1950. p. 9.
3. Roads, United States Congress Senate Committee on Post Offices and Post (February 28, 1929). "Influencing Appointments to Postmasterships...Hearings..on S. Res. 193...July 9-12, Dec. 11 and 13, 1928...Jan. 29-Apr. 5, 1929. (70-2)" – via Google Books.
4. Expenditures, United States Congress Senate Special Committee Investigating Presidential Campaign (February 29, 1928). "Presidential Campaign Expenditures: Hearings Before a Special Committee Investigating Presidential Campaign Expenditures, United States Senate, Seventieth Congress, First Session, Pursuant to S. Res. 214, a Resolution to Appoint a Special Committee to Inquire Into Expenditures of Various Presidential Candidates". U.S. Government Printing Office – via Google Books.
5. McMillen, Neil R. (1990). Dark Journey: Black Mississippians in the Age of Jim Crow. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-06156-1.
6. Motley, Constance Baker (September 10, 1999). Equal Justice Under Law: An Autobiography. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-374-52618-4 – via Google Books.
7. "National Bar Journal". National Bar Association. February 28, 1941 – via Google Books.
8. Ownby, Ted (2013-10-24). The Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 90–91. ISBN 978-1-61703-934-8.
9. "Official report of the proceedings of the eighteenth Republican national convention, held in Cleveland, Ohio". Tenny Press. February 29, 1924 – via Google Books.
10. Hart, George Luzerne (February 29, 1928). "Official Report of the Proceedings of the Nineteenth Republican National Convention: Held in Kansas City, Missouri, June 12, 13, 14 and 15, 1928, Resulting in the Nomination of Herbert Hoover, of California, for President and the Nomination of Charles Curtis, of Kansas, for Vice-president". Tenny Press – via Google Books.
11. Sweet, Grace; Bradley, Benjamin (2013-07-09). Church Street: The Sugar Hill of Jackson, Mississippi. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-62584-565-8.
12. "Dansby Funeral Rites To Be Held Tuesday". The Clarion-Ledger. May 20, 1968. ISSN 0744-9526.