Joseph Wilson Ervin

Joseph Wilson Ervin (March 3, 1901 – December 25, 1945) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina.

Family background, education and early professional life
He was the younger brother of a more famous politician, Sam Ervin. Ervin was born in Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina. He attended the public schools, was graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1921 where he was a member of the Dialectic Society and from its law school in 1923, was admitted to the bar in 1923 and commenced practice in Charlotte, North Carolina.

U.S. Congressman
He was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-ninth Congress and served from January 3, 1945, until his death in Washington, D.C., on December 25, 1945, nearly a year after entering Congress. Ervin was a staunch opponent of the Fair Employment Practice Committee.

Suicide
He killed himself by inhaling gas from a kitchen stove. This was said to be due to the pain from osteomyelitis from which he was suffering. His brother Sam Ervin was elected to finish his term. Joseph Ervin was interred in Forest Hill Cemetery, Morganton, North Carolina.