William Johnston Dawson was a U.S. Congressman

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from the state of North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 from 1793 to 1795.

Dawson was born near Edenton

Edenton, North Carolina

Edenton is a town in Chowan County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 4,966 at the 2008 census. It is the county seat of Chowan County. Edenton is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks region. In recent years Edenton has become a popular retirement location and a destination for...

 in Chowan County, North Carolina

Chowan County, North Carolina

- Law and government :Chowan County is a member of the Albemarle Commission regional council of government-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 14,793 people, 5,580 households, and 4,006 families residing in the county. The population density was 84 people per square mile . There...

. His grandfather was royal Governor Gabriel Johnston

Gabriel Johnston

Gabriel Johnston was the colonial governor of North Carolina from 1734 to 1752, the longest-serving governor in state history.- External links :*...

. He was also the grandson of William Dawson

William Dawson (college president)

Reverend William Dawson was the second president of The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. A graduate of the Queen's College at Oxford University, Dawson ran the College from 1743–1752...

, the second president of The College of William & Mary, and a great-great grandson of John Stith

John Stith

John Stith was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and the progenitor of the Stith family, one of the first families of Virginia.Stith ancestors were likely from the area of Kirkham in Lancashire, England. Stith settled in Charles City County, Virginia sometime after coming to the colony...

 and William Randolph

William Randolph

William Randolph was a colonist and land owner who played an important role in the history and government of the Commonwealth of Virginia. He moved to Virginia sometime between 1669 and 1673, and married Mary Isham a few years later...

. Dawson represented Bertie County

Bertie County, North Carolina

-External links:**...

 in the state constitutional conventions of 1788 and 1789. He was elected to the North Carolina House of Commons (now called the House of Representatives) in 1791 and was a member of the committee which was appointed to choose a site for the new state capital, Raleigh

Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...

, that same year. Dawson Street in downtown Raleigh is named for him. Dawson was elected to the 3rd United States Congress

3rd United States Congress

The Third United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives...

 in the election of Feb. 15, 1793, a three-way race in which he, as the Anti-Federalist

Anti-Administration Party (United States)

Anti-Administration "Party" was the informal faction comprising the opponents of the policies of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton in the first term of President George Washington. This was not an organized political party but an unorganized faction...

 candidate, defeated two Federalists

Federalist Party (United States)

The Federalist Party was the first American political party, from the early 1790s to 1816, the era of the First Party System, with remnants lasting into the 1820s. The Federalists controlled the federal government until 1801...

: Stephen Cabarrus

Stephen Cabarrus

Stephen Cabarrus held the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in North Carolina from 1789 to 1793 and from 1800 to 1805....

 (Speaker of the State House) and William Cumming. Dawson served from March 4, 1793 to March 3, 1795. He lost his race for re-election on Feb. 13, 1795 to Dempsey Burges

Dempsey Burges

Dempsey Burgess was a Democratic-Republican U.S. Congressman from North Carolina between 1795 and 1799.Born in Shiloh, North Carolina, in Camden County, Burgess was a member of the North Carolina Provincial Congress in 1775 and 1776...

.

Dawson died in Bertie County, North Carolina. His obituary, printed in the North Carolina Journal on Feb. 1, 1796, stated that Dawson died on Jan. 16, 1796 but the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress is a biographical dictionary of all present and former members of the United States Congress as well as its predecessor, the Continental Congress...

, which lists his middle name as "Johnson," puts his death at 1798.