William Montgomery Churchwell was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives.
He was born near Knoxville, Tennessee in Knox County on February 20, 1826. He attended private schools and Emory and Henry College in Emory, Virginia from 1840 to 1843. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Knoxville. He served as one of the judges for Knox County.
He was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-second Congress by Tennessee's 2nd congressional district, and then by Tennessee's 3rd congressional district to the Thirty-third Congress after Tennessee had lost a district through reapportionment. He served from March 4, 1851 to March 3, 1855. During the Thirty-third Congress, he was the chairman of the United States House Committee on Revolutionary Pensions.
William Churchwell was later a provost marshal for the district of east Tennessee. During the administration of President Buchanan, he was sent on a secret mission to Mexico. He served in the Confederate Army as a lieutenant colonel of the Fourth Tennessee Regiment during the Civil War. He died in Knoxville, Tennessee on August 18, 1862. He was interred in Old Gray Cemetery.
| Diplomatic posts | ||
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| Preceded by John Forsyth Jr. |
U.S. Minister to Mexico 1858 |
Succeeded by Alfred Mordecai |