Charles C. Stockley

Charles C. Stockley

Charles Clark Stockley (born November 6, 1819 in Georgetown , Delaware ; † April 20, 1901 ) was an American politician and governor of the state of Delaware from 1883 to 1887 .

Early years and political advancement

After finishing school in Philadelphia , Stockley returned to Delaware in 1839. He taught there for seven years before opening a general store in Milford . At the same time he cultivated a large area of ​​farmland, on which he operated a peach plantation, among other things. Stockley was one of the largest peach growers in Delaware.

Stockley was a member of the Democratic Party . In 1852 he became a chamberlain in Sussex County and in 1856 he became a sheriff there . Between 1873 and 1877 Stockley was a member of the Delaware Senate , where he was its president since 1876. On November 7, 1882, he was elected as the candidate of his party with 53% of the vote against Albert Curry , the candidate of the Republicans , as the new governor of his state.

Delaware Governor

Charles Stockley took up his new office on January 16, 1883. During his four-year term in office, he campaigned for an improvement in the school system and called for constitutional reform. A State Library was also established. At that time, his Democratic Party still saw itself as the “White Man” party. Most blacks were excluded from this right by special election laws ( poll taxes ), which linked the right to vote to tax law. Governor Stockley did not change the existing situation as far as the situation of Afro-Americans was concerned; At the end of his term in office, however, he expressed the hope that the situation could soon change in favor of this minority. But that made him decades ahead of his time. It was not until the 1960s that the situation was to change.

Another résumé

After the end of his tenure, Stockley devoted himself to his private business. In 1891 he became a probate judge and executor in Sussex County. He also became director of the Junction and Breakwater Railroad . Charles Stockley died in April 1901. He and his wife, Ellen Anderson, had a daughter, Hannah.

literature

• Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 1, Meckler Books, Westport, 1978. 4 volumes.

Web links

• Charles Stockley at the National Governors Association (English)
• The governors of Delaware (English)
• Charles C. Stockley in the database of Find a Grave (English)