John W. Leedy

John W. Leedy

John Whitnah Leedy (born March 4, 1849 in Richland County , Ohio , † March 24, 1935 in Edmonton , Canada ) was an American politician and from 1897 to 1899 the 14th governor of the state of Kansas .

Early years

Due to the early death of his father, John Leedy could only attend school to a very limited extent. Instead, he had to do his part to support the family by doing various temporary jobs. Against his mother's wishes, he joined the army in 1864 to fight in the civil war. Although he was rejected because of his youth, he remained in the military until the end of the war. In 1865 he moved to Princeton ( Indiana ), where he worked for three years in a retail store. He then went to Carlinville , Illinois , where he worked on a farm for another five years. At the end of that time he was able to buy a small farm himself with his savings.

Political rise

Leedy was a member of the Republican Party until 1872 , when he joined the Democrats . After the Populist Party had emerged in the 1880s , he joined this new party in 1890, which then became part of the Democratic Party. In 1892 he was elected to the Kansas Senate for populists . In 1896 he was nominated by this party as a candidate for the gubernatorial election. Due to the merging of the populists with the Democrats, Leedy is sometimes listed in the sources as a populist and sometimes a Democrat.

Kansas Governor

After the successful election, John Leedy was able to take up his new office on January 11, 1897. During his term of office, the Spanish-American War falls, in which Kansas participated with four regiments, although only one was used. At that time a state commission for the procurement of school books was established. In addition, a state grain commission and a state printing house were established. The previous railway committee was replaced by the so-called “Court of Visitation”. This body oversaw all railroads within Kansas and was abolished under Leedy's successors. The state's economy flourished during Governor Leedy's two-year tenure. Both industry and agriculture recorded significant growth. Nevertheless, Leedy missed re-election in 1898.

Another résumé

After the end of his tenure in January 1899 Leedy went temporarily into the mining business. He founded the Leedy Mining Company , of which he was himself director. In 1901 he moved to Valdez , Alaska , where he served as mayor for two years. He later moved to Canada. There he was very old in 1935, but died quite impoverished. He was married to Sara Boyd, with whom he had three children.

Web links

• John Leedy in the National Governors Association (English)

• John W. Leedy in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Biography at the Kansas Historical Society (English)