US Congressman, Lawyer. He was a United States Representative from the State of Texas. He was born one of six children as Charles Henderson Yoakum to Reverend Franklin Laughlin Yoakum (1819-1891), and his wife Elizabeth Narcissus Teague Yoakum (1825-1904), in Tehuacana, Texas, on July 10, 1849. He was educated locally in the local common public schools before attending the prestigious Larissa College in Cherokee County, Texas, and the prestigious Cumberland College in Leonard, Texas. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1874 and commenced his practice of law in Emory, Texas. He became the Prosecuting Attorney for Rains County, Texas, and served in that position in 1876. He then moved to Hunt County, Texas, in 1883, and he continued with his practice of law after settling in Greenville, Texas. He also served as District Attorney for the Eighth Judicial District from 1886 to 1890, and as a Member of the Texas State Senate representing the 5th District from 1892 to 1896. He then decided to run for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected to succeed the outgoing United States Representative Constantine Buckley Kilgore (1835-1897), on March 4, 1895. A Democrat, he then served Texas's 3rd District (Fifty-Fourth Congress), in the United States House of Representatives serving from March 4, 1895 to March 3, 1897. Following his term in the United States Congress, he was succeeded in office by the incoming United States Representative Reese Calhoun De Graffenreid (1859-1902), on March 3, 1897. After leaving the United States Congress, he returned to Greenville, Texas, and continued with his practice of law until 1900, when he moved to Los Angeles, California, for his health. While living in California he became associated with the railway and he was appointed to the position of General Attorney of the Frisco Lines in Texas. He then moved back to Texas and served in that position from 1904 until his unexpected death five years later on January 1, 1909, at the age of 59. He was also a member of several prominent organizations or clubs including the Freemasons and the Odd Fellows. He passed away from a sudden stroke in Fort Worth, Texas, on January 1, 1909, at the age of 59. Following his death, his funeral service was held at his residence at 926 South Jennings Street in Fort Worth, Texas, with the Reverend Dr. H.D. Knickerbocker, Pastor of the local First Methodist Church officiating with many friends, family, and colleagues in attendance. Following the funeral service, his body was taken to the Santa Fe Railway Station in Fort Worth, Texas, and he was then taken by train to his final resting place in Ennis, Texas, he was buried beside his mother and father in the Myrtle Cemetery in Ennis, Texas. He was married to Nancy Elizabeth "Nannie" Taylor Gillett Yoakum in Hunt, Texas, on July 6, 1899, and they had five children together including, a daughter named Gladys Gillette Wright (1891-1956). His wife Nancy passed away in Fort Worth, Texas, on December 4, 1926, at the age of 57, and she is buried in Pecan Grove Cemetery in McKinney, Texas. His brothers included Benjamin Franklin Yoakum (1859-1929), a well-known railroad executive, and Finis Ewing Yoakum Sr. (1851-1920), a faith healer and social reformer.