John Willock Noble

John Willock Noble

John Willock Noble (born October 26, 1831 in Lancaster , Ohio - †  March 22, 1912 in St. Louis , Missouri ) was an American lawyer and politician ( Republican Party ) who served in the cabinet of US President Benjamin Harrison as Secretary of the Interior belonged to.

Life

After attending Miami College in Oxford , Noble moved to Yale University , where he graduated in 1851. He studied law , was inducted into the Ohio Bar in 1853, and opened a law firm. In 1855 Noble moved to St. Louis; at that time he was a member of the Free Soil Party . The following year he settled in Iowa and joined the Republicans. In 1859 he was elected as a city ​​attorney for Keokuk .

When the Civil War broke out, Noble joined the Union Army and fought for the 3rd  Cavalry - Regiment of Iowa. He held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and served as Judge Advocate General ; later he was promoted to brigadier general. After returning from the war, John Noble lived again in Missouri, where he was appointed federal attorney for the eastern district of the state in 1867 . He held this post for the next two decades.

Change to politics

After the Republicans' success in the 1888 presidential election , Noble assumed the post of Home Secretary in Harrison's cabinet . At a time when the Ministry of the Interior was responsible for explosive political areas such as the granting of land to railroad companies, pension claims for civil war veterans or dealing with the Indians , the filling of this post with the honorable lawyer met with general approval. During his tenure, which coincided with Harrison's presidency, Noble pursued the whiskey ring and supported the Forest Reserve Act of 1891, which allowed the presidents to give forest land to the public as national parks.

After the end of his tenure, John Noble returned to St. Louis in March 1893, where he again worked as a lawyer and died in 1912. The Noble County in Oklahoma was named after him.

Web links

• John Willock Noble in the Miller Center of Public Affairs of the University of Virginia (English)
• The Political Graveyard