Richard Wilson Austin (August 26, 1857 – April 20, 1919) was an American politician, attorney and diplomat. A Republican, he served in the United States House of Representatives from 1909 to 1919, representing Tennessee's 2nd district. Prior to his congressional tenure, he worked as a United States Marshal from 1897 to 1906, and served as the U.S. consul to Glasgow, Scotland, from 1906 to 1907. Early life Austin was born on August 26, 1857, in Decatur, Alabama, the son of John and Mary (Parker) Austin. He attended public schools in Loudon County, Tennessee, and studied law at the University of Tennessee. He was admitted to the bar in 1878, and commenced practice in Knoxville, Tennessee. Austin served as a clerk in the Post Office Department at Washington, D.C., from 1879 to 1881. He worked as Assistant Doorkeeper of the United States House of Representatives under his future political ally, Walter P. Brownlow, from 1881 to 1883, during the Forty-seventh Congress. He was a special agent of the War Department from 1883 to 1885. In 1885, he engaged in newspaper work in Knoxville. He then returned to Decatur, Alabama, and continued the practice of law. He was the private secretary of Congressman Leonidas C. Houk from Tennessee in 1888, and was the city attorney of Decatur, Alabama. Austin ran for Alabama's 8th district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1890, but lost to the incumbent, former Confederate general Joseph Wheeler, 16,821 votes to 12,076. He was a delegate to the 1892 Republican National Convention at Minneapolis. He returned to Knoxville in 1893 to edit the Knoxville Republican. Following the death of Leonidas Houk in 1891, the Tennessee Republican Party gradually split into two quarreling factions: one led by Brownlow, which Austin supported, and the other led by former congressman Henry Clay Evans of Chattanooga, which had the support of Chattanooga businessman Newell Sanders. At the 1896 Republican National Convention, Austin and Brownlow helped thwart Evans' bid for the vice presidential nomination. Brownlow was elected to Congress by the 1st district later that year. The president considered Evans for the office of Postmaster General, but the appointment went to James A. Gary of Maryland, due in part to the influence of Brownlow and Austin. In 1897, President McKinley appointed Austin United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Tennessee. One of the more notable actions of Austin as marshal came