Ezekiel A. Straw

Ezekiel Albert Straw (1875)

Ezekiel Albert Straw (born December 30, 1819 in Salisbury , Merrimack County , New Hampshire - † October 23, 1882 in Manchester , New Hampshire) was an American politician and governor of the state of New Hampshire from 1872 to 1874 .

Early years

Shortly after his birth Ezekiel Straws attracted parents to Lowell ( Massachusetts ), where he attended the local schools. He later graduated from Phillips Academy . From 1838 he was employed by the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company in Manchester. In this company he became president in 1871. On behalf of his company he was involved in building the water supply for the city of Manchester.

Political rise

Straw was a member of the Republican Party . Between 1859 and 1864 he was an MP in the New Hampshire House of Representatives . He was then from 1864 to 1866 a member of the New Hampshire Senate , from 1865 he was President of this chamber. In 1869 he was on the advisory board of Governor Onslow Stearns . A year later he was appointed to his state's planning committee for the United States centenary exhibition planned for 1876 ​​in Philadelphia .

New Hampshire Governor

In 1872, Straw was elected as the new governor of New Hampshire as his party's candidate against incumbent James A. Weston , who was to succeed him again in 1874. After he had won another election against Weston in 1876, he was able to stay between June 2, 1872 and June 3, 1874 in this office. During this time, the governor worked to further reduce the national debt, which was a result of the costs of the civil war . He called for better craft training in schools in order to better prepare future industrial workers for their jobs. In the then acute question of prohibition , he proposed a local solution: subordinate authorities such as counties or cities should decide in their area how they wanted to deal with this question.

Another résumé

After the end of his tenure, Straw returned to his business interests. In 1876 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention , where Rutherford B. Hayes was nominated as a presidential candidate. Otherwise, Straw was president of various companies. He died in 1882. Ezekiel Straw had four children with his wife, Charlotte Smith Webster.

literature

• Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 3, Meckler Books, Westport, 1978. 4 volumes.

Web links

• Ezekiel Straw in the National Governors Association (English)
• Biography of New Hampshire (English)
• Ezekiel A. Straw in the database of Find a Grave (English)