William Johnston Dawson (? - 1798) was a U.S. Congressman from the state of North Carolina from 1793 to 1795. Dawson was born near Edenton in Chowan County, North Carolina. 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. A road in downtown Raleigh is named for him. Dawson was elected to the 3rd United States Congress in the election of 2/15/1793, a three-way race in which he, as the Anti-Federalist candidate, defeated two Federalists: Stephen Cabarrus (Speaker of the State House) and William Cumming. [1] Dawson served from March 4, 1793 to March 3, 1795. He lost his race for re-election on 2/13/1795 to Dempsey Burges [2]. Dawson died in Bertie County, North Carolina. His obituary, printed in the North Carolina Journal on 2/1/1796, stated that Dawson died on 1/16/1796 (the text of the obituary is posted at [3]. This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
