Hazen S. Pingree

Hazen S. Pingree

Hazen Stuart Pingree (born August 30, 1840 in Denmark , Oxford County , Maine , † June 18, 1901 in London ) was an American politician and from 1897 to 1901 the 24th  governor of the state of Michigan .

Early years

Hazen Pingree attended local schools in his home in Maine. After school he worked for a while in a cotton mill and then in a shoe factory. During the Civil War he was a member of an artillery regiment from Massachusetts . He took part in several battles and became a prisoner of war. After six months he managed to escape from a Confederate prison camp , whereupon he rejoined his regiment.

Rise in Michigan

After the Civil War ended, Pingree moved to Detroit , Michigan. There he founded the shoe factory Pingree and Smith Shoe Co together with a partner in December 1866 . The factory burned down in 1887 but was rebuilt. In the 1890s, this factory was one of the largest shoe manufacturers in Michigan. Pingree was a member of the Republican Party and was elected Mayor of Detroit in 1889 , an office he held until 1896. He fought against the monopoly of the city's electricity and gas suppliers. He declared war on corruption in the award of contracts and grappled with city tram fares, which he believed were too high. During the economic depression of 1893, the mayor created jobs by building schools, parks and public baths. His so-called “ Potato Patch Plan ” project caused a stir nationwide . He had fields planted in open spaces in the city to produce food for the poor.

Michigan governor

In 1896, Pingree was elected as a Republican candidate for the new governor of Michigan. He took office on January 1, 1897 and, after being re-elected in 1898, was able to exercise it until January 1, 1901. Attempting to remain mayor of Detroit at the same time was ruled inadmissible by the state's Supreme Court. Therefore, he had to give up his office in Detroit. During his four-year tenure as governor, he campaigned for the direct election of US Senators , a law that was introduced nationwide through an amendment to the US Constitution in 1913. Income tax laws have been reformed. Pingree also called for better taxation of the railroad companies. That was also when the eight-hour day was introduced in Michigan.

Another résumé

In early 1901, Pingree went on an African safari with his son and American Vice President Theodore Roosevelt . He contracted peritonitis , which broke out on the way back in London. Although the personal physician of King Edward VII looked after the patient, he could no longer be helped. He died in June 1901, six months after the end of his governorship, in the British capital. Hazen Pingree was married to Francis Gilbert, with whom he had three children.

Web links

• Hazen Pingree in the National Governors Association (English)
• Hazen S. Pingree in the database of Find a Grave (English)