1. Thomas Sterling was an American lawyer, politician, and academic who served as a member of the United States Senate and the first dean of the University of South Dakota College of Law.
11 Facts About Thomas Sterling
1. 2.
Thomas Sterling later served as dean and law professor at George Washington University Law School.
3.
Thomas Sterling moved with his parents, Charles Sterling and Anna Kessler to McLean County, Illinois in 1854, where he attended the public schools and graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University at Bloomington in 1875.
4.
Thomas Sterling was superintendent of schools of Bement, Illinois, from 1875 to 1877.
5.
Thomas Sterling studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1878, commencing his practice in Springfield, Illinois.
6.
Thomas Sterling became the city prosecuting attorney in 1880 until 1881.
7.
Thomas Sterling moved to Redfield in 1886 and continued the practice of law, serving as district attorney of Spink County, South Dakota, from 1886 to 1888.
8.
Thomas Sterling was elected in 1912 as a Republican to the United States Senate, was reelected in 1918, and served from March 4,1913, to March 3,1925.
9.
Thomas Sterling was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1924, losing in the Republican primary to William H McMaster, who won the general election.
10.
Thomas Sterling practiced law in Washington, DC, and served on the faculty of National University Law School, now George Washington University School of Law.
11.
Thomas Sterling was appointed by President Calvin Coolidge in 1925 as field secretary of the Commission for the Celebration of the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of George Washington.