Louis K. Church

Louis Kossuth Church (born December 11, 1846 in Brooklyn , New York City , † November 25, 1898 in Juneau , Alaska ) was an American politician and from 1887 to 1889 the 9th Territorial Governor of the Dakota Territory .

Early years

Louis Church attended the Hudson River Institute in New York and then studied law. After graduating and being admitted to the bar, he began to practice in his new profession. Church was a member of the Democratic Party and was elected to the New York state parliament in 1882. There he made friends with the Republican Theodore Roosevelt . Together they supported the Democratic Governor of Grover Cleveland in his successful fight against the Tammany Society. After his election as US President, Cleveland showed appreciation and appointed Church a judge in the third judicial district of the Dakota Territory. After Gilbert A. Pierce stepped down from the post of Territorial Governor, Church was appointed as his successor by President Cleveland. He was the first governor of the territory to belong to the Democratic Party.

Territorial Governor

Louis Church took office on February 21, 1887. In Dakota, his appointment was not met with unanimous approval because some democratic politicians would have preferred Frank Ziebach, a local politician, in this position. As governor, he was very frugal and questioned every bill. Together with former governors Nehemiah G. Ordway and John L. Pennington , he opposed the plan to split the territory into two separate states (North and South Dakota). This split was wanted by the Republican Party, which hoped that the accession of two supposedly republican states to the USA would gain a larger majority in the US Congress. After President Cleveland lost the presidential election to Republican Benjamin Harrison , Church in Washington found no political support. In Dakota, too, opposition to his policies increased, especially on the issue of the division of the territory. Four days after President Harrison's inauguration, Church resigned on March 9, 1889.

Another résumé

After his resignation, Church became a lawyer in Huron, South Dakota. He later moved to Seattle, Washington state . Louis Church died of pneumonia in 1898 while on a trip to Alaska.

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personal data
SURNAME	Church, Louis K.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Church, Louis Kossuth
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician, governor of the Dakota Territory
DATE OF BIRTH	December 11, 1846
PLACE OF BIRTH	Brooklyn , New York City
DATE OF DEATH	November 25, 1898
Place of death	Juneau , Alaska