William J. Alston
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William Jeffreys Alston (December 31, 1800 - June 10, 1876) was a United States Representative from Alabama. Born in Milledgeville, Georgia, he attended a private school in South Carolina. He moved to Alabama and settled in Marengo County and taught school for several years; he studied law, was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Linden, Alabama in 1821. He was judge of the Marengo County Court for several years and in 1837 was a member of the Alabama House of Representatives. He served in the Alabama Senate from 1839 to 1842, and was elected as a Whig to the Thirty-first Congress, holding office from March 4, 1849 to March 3, 1851. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1850 and resumed the practice of his profession; he again became a member of the State house of representatives, in 1855 and engaged in agricultural pursuits. Alston died in Magnolia, Alabama in 1876; interment was in Magnolia Cemetery.