John Tyler Rich

John Tyler Rich

John Tyler Rich (born April 23, 1841 in Conneautville , Crawford County , Pennsylvania , † March 28, 1926 in Saint Petersburg , Florida ) was an American politician and from 1893 to 1897 the 23rd  governor of the state of Michigan .

Early years and political advancement

John Tyler Rich was named after US President John Tyler, who came into office shortly before he was born . The family came to Elba , Michigan via Vermont in 1848 . Young John attended local schools there. After finishing school he worked in agriculture.

Rich was a member of the Republican Party . His political rise began in 1869 with his election to the county council in Lapeer County . He held this mandate until 1872. Between 1873 and 1881 he was a member of the House of Representatives from Michigan ; he has been president of that body for the past two years. In early 1881 he was a member of the State Senate for a short time before moving into the US House of Representatives in Washington in April 1881 . There he had to end the term of office of the resigned Omar D. Conger . He remained in Congress until March 3, 1883. Between 1887 and 1891 John Rich was the Michigan Government's Railroad Commissioner . In 1884 and 1892 he took part as a delegate to the Republican National Conventions .

Michigan governor

In 1892, Rich was elected his party's candidate for new governor. After re-election in 1894, he was able to serve until January 1, 1897. During this time he had to deal with a strike by railroad workers and another strike by miners at an iron mine. At that time, three members of the electoral commission had to be fired for election fraud in a vote on a raise.

After the end of his governorship, John Rich remained politically active. Between 1898 and 1906 he was the head of the Federal Customs Service in Detroit . Between January 1908 and January 1909 he was Michigan State Treasurer . Between 1908 and 1913 he was in charge of Customs at Port Huron . John Rich died in March 1926. He was married to Lucretia Winship.

Web links

• John Tyler Rich in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• John Rich at the National Governors Association (English)

• John Tyler Rich in the database of Find a Grave (English)

Remarks

1. ↑ Some sources give his name as John Treadway Rich.