William McKendree Gwin (October 9, 1805 – September 3, 1885) was an American medical doctor and politician who served in elected office in Mississippi and California. In California he shared the distinction, along with John C. Frémont, of being the state's first US senators. Before, during, and after the Civil War, Gwin was well known in California, Washington, D.C., and the Southern United States as a determined Confederate sympathizer. Early life Gwin was born near Gallatin, Tennessee. His father was Reverend James Gwin, a pioneer Methodist minister, who served under the prominent Reverend William McKendree, America's first native-born Methodist bishop and namesake of the younger Gwin. James Gwin served as a soldier on the frontier under General Andrew Jackson. William Gwin pursued classical studies and graduated from the medical department of Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1828. Political career As the son of a chaplain who was at the Battle of New Orleans, the young Gwin served as a personal secretary to President Andrew Jackson during the latter's second term. Gwin then practiced medicine in Clinton, Mississippi, until 1833, when he became the United States Marshal for Mississippi, serving for one year. He was elected as a Democrat from Mississippi to the 27th Congress of 1841 to 1843. Declining a renomination for Congress on account of financial embarrassment, he was appointed, on the accession of James K. Polk to the Presidency, to superintend the building of the new custom-house at New Orleans, Louisiana. He moved to California in 1849 and participated in the 1849 California Constitutional Convention. He also purchased property in Paloma, California, where a gold mine was established. The Gwin Mine would eventually yield millions of dollars, providing him with a fortune. He also organized the Chivalry wing of the Democratic Party. Before the admission of California as US state, Gwin was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate. He served from September 10, 1850, to March 3, 1855. He was a strong advocate of Pacific expansion and in 1852 advocated a survey of the Bering Strait. Gwin presented a bill that was approved by the Senate and the House and became the Act of March 3, 1851, which established a three-member Board of Land Commissioners to be appointed by the President for three-year terms (the period was twice extended by Congress, resulting in a five-year term). The function of the Public Land Commission was