Andrew E. Lee

Andrew Ericson Lee (born March 18, 1847 in Bergen , Norway , † March 19, 1934 in Vermillion , South Dakota ) was an American politician and from 1897 to 1901 the third governor of the state of South Dakota.

Early years

Lee came to the United States with his parents at the age of four. The family initially settled in Wisconsin . He came to the Dakota Territory via Iowa in 1867 . In the village of Vermillion he was a trader and rancher. Between 1892 and 1893 he was a councilor in Vermillion and later also held the office of mayor of the city. At the time, Lee was a member of the People's Party , an offshoot of the Populist Party that was very strong in some parts of the United States in the 1880s and 1890s. The party represented the interests of the small farmers and workers. The most famous member was William Jennings Bryan . The party later merged with the Democrats . In 1896 he was elected as the People's Party candidate for the new governor of South Dakota. At the time of his re-election two years later, the party had already merged with the Democratic Party and at that time was called the Fusion Party .

South Dakota Governor

Lee took up his new office on January 1, 1897. He is one of only five South Dakota governors to date who were not members of the Republican Party . During Lee's tenure, the Spanish-American War fell . For this war an infantry regiment was sent from South Dakota to the Philippines . Although the unit did not take part in the actual war there, it was needed in 1899 to put down a Philippine uprising. Other forces from South Dakota were made available to the reserve forces. Recruiting and later returning soldiers to civilian life in South Dakota was one of the governor's duties. Otherwise, Lee tried to make the administration more efficient. In 1900 the railroad reached the Missouri at Evarts in the north of the country . This made the city of Evarts an important transshipment point, especially for cattle, which were shipped from here to Chicago's slaughterhouses . After rejecting a third candidacy, Andrew Lee resigned on January 8, 1901.

After his tenure ended, Lee returned to his private business in Vermillion. In 1908 he again applied unsuccessfully for a return to the office of governor. He died in Vermillion in 1934. Andrew Lee was married to Annie M. Chappell and they had one child together.

Web links

• Andrew Lee in the National Governors Association (English)
• Andrew E. Lee in the database of Find a Grave (English)