27 Sept. 1850–4 Nov. 1917
![Photograph of William Leake Terry, from E. L. Murlin's <i>An Illustrated Congressional Manual: The United States Red Book</i>, [p. 128], published 1896 by James B. Lyon, Publisher, Albany, NY. Presented by HathiTrust.](/sites/default/files/images_bio/Terry_William_Leake.jpg)
After a brief study of the law, William returned to Arkansas and was admitted to the Arkansas bar in 1873. He served on the Little Rock city council (1878–79), as city attorney (1879–85), and in the state senate (1879 and 1881). Leake was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1891 and held his seat for the next ten years. A ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, he was a constant thorn in the side of House Speaker Thomas B. (Czar) Reed. He was defeated for reelection in 1900.
Terry was well known for his legal abilities; "the strongest trial lawyer in the state," one colleague called him. In appearance he was "tall, slender, and handsome. He was blond with an unusually fair complexion." He was married twice: to Mollie C. Dixon (1875–95), with whom he had three sons, and to Florence Forshe, with whom he had a daughter. His son David D. also served in the House of Representatives. A Roman Catholic, William Leake Terry was buried at Calvary Cemetery, Little Rock.