Samuel Riley Sells (August 2, 1871 – November 2, 1935) was an American politician and businessman who served as a Republican Representative from Tennessee in the United States Congress from 1911 to 1921. A member of the United States House of Representatives for the 1st congressional district of Tennessee, he completed five consecutive terms in office and contributed to the legislative process during a significant period in American history, including the years surrounding World War I.
Sells was born on August 2, 1871, in Bristol, Sullivan County, Tennessee, the son of George Washington Sells and Mary Margaret McCrary. He attended local rural schools in the Bristol area and then pursued further education at King College in Bristol from 1885 to 1890. After his collegiate studies, he read law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced the practice of law in Blountville, Tennessee. In addition to his legal training, his early life in northeastern Tennessee rooted him in the region he would later represent in Congress.
During the Spanish–American War, Sells served in the United States military as a private in Company F, Third Regiment, Tennessee Volunteer Infantry. This period of service provided him with firsthand experience of military affairs at a time when the United States was emerging as an international power. Following the war, he shifted his professional focus away from law and into private enterprise. After moving to Johnson City, Tennessee, he engaged in the lumber business, an industry that would remain central to his livelihood before, during, and after his political career.
Sells’s formal political career began at the state level. He served as a member of the Tennessee Senate from 1909 to 1911, representing his region in the state legislature and gaining experience in lawmaking and public policy. His work in the Tennessee Senate helped establish his reputation within the Republican Party in a period when Republicans were a minority in much of the South, and it positioned him for election to national office.
In 1910, Sells was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-second Congress and subsequently reelected to the four succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1911, to March 3, 1921. Representing Tennessee’s 1st congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives, he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his constituents during a decade marked by Progressive Era reforms and the First World War. During the Sixty-sixth Congress, he served as chairman of the United States House Committee on Pensions, a role that placed him at the center of legislative efforts concerning benefits for veterans and their dependents. A committed Republican, he was also a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1912 and 1916, reflecting his influence within the party at the national level. In 1920, he was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination, bringing his ten-year congressional tenure to a close on March 3, 1921.
Following his departure from Congress, Sells returned to Johnson City and resumed his activities in the lumber business. He expanded his commercial interests to include the manufacturing of shale brick and engaged in numerous other enterprises, contributing to the economic development of his community. His continued involvement in Republican politics was evidenced by his later service as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1932, indicating that he remained an active figure in party affairs even after leaving elective office.
On April 25, 1904, Sells married Frances Rice Hayward. The couple had four children: Samuel Hayward Sells, Charlotte Wyman Sells, Lucy McGuire Sells, and Frank Hayward Sells. His family life in Johnson City paralleled his careers in business and politics, and he remained closely associated with northeastern Tennessee throughout his life.
Samuel Riley Sells died in Johnson City, Tennessee, on November 2, 1935, at the age of 64. He was interred at Oak Hill Cemetery in Johnson City. His career as a state senator, five-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives, businessman, and party delegate reflected the civic and economic life of early twentieth-century Tennessee and the broader transformations in American politics during his years of service.
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