Lewis Wolfley

Lewis Wolfley

Lewis Wolfley (born October 8, 1839 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , † February 12, 1910 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American civil engineer and politician ( Republican Party ), who was governor of the Arizona Territory from 1889 to 1890 . He is widely considered to be the first Territorial Governor to be resident in Arizona at the time of his appointment and to hold a bachelor's degree in that position. Wolfley's political career was marred by his almost complete lack of political prowess. Therefore, he spent much of his time as governor in the political hand-to-hand combat that eventually led to his resignation.

Early years

Lewis Wolfley, son of Lewis and Elanor (Irwin) Wolfley, was born in Philadelphia on October 8, 1839. His father died at a young age, so Wolfey had to grow up near the border with the states of Ohio and Kentucky . His mother's family, the Ohio-based Ewings, went to court over his education, which included civil engineering and possible law degrees. As a young man, he worked for railways that operated in Iowa and Ohio.

During the Civil War , Wolfley fought in the 3rd Kentucky Cavalry of the Union Army . His service there soon gave him the nickname "Sherman's Fighting Major". General William T. Sherman encouraged him at the end of the war to stay with his rank in the regular army. However, Wolfley left the Army with the rank of lieutenant colonel and moved to New Orleans , where he worked as a US tax officer. In 1872 Wolfley was a miner in Colorado . He then worked in the District of Columbia before settling in the Arizona Territory in the early 1880s. In Arizona he then worked as a civil engineer who carried out appraisal work on public properties. He soon gained prestige through this work.

governor

When Republican President Benjamin Harrison took office, he wished to replace Democratic Governor C. Meyer Zulick with a member of his own party. Newspaper reporters said there were 15 to 16 serious contenders for the post, including former Governor Anson Safford and Territory Delegate Curtis Coe Bean . Wolfley took up his post exactly two days after Harrison's presidential inauguration . The cover letter included information about Wolfley's military service, his six years in the Territory, and a letter that the Republican Platform required territorial officials in the Territory to sign. Wolfley's proponents included Generals William T. Sherman, Nelson Appleton Miles, and John Schofield put together. These included US Senators John Sherman , Russell Alexander Alger , James G. Blaine and US Secretary of the Interior John Willock Noble . Opponent of his appointment was the US Senator James Donald Cameron from Pennsylvania. His nephew, Brewster Cameron of the San Rafael Cattle Company , had a previous billing dispute with Wolfley over bridging work as a drover in Arizona during his nomination. Despite opposition, Wolfley was unanimously confirmed by the US Senate on March 28, 1889 and sworn in as the new governor of the Arizona Territory on April 8, 1889.

The first issue Wolfley tackled as governor was the appointment of territorial officials. Democratic Governor Zulick had submitted a full list of nominations for the 15th Arizona Territorial Legislature as part of his regular duties . The Republican-controlled legislature rejected Zulick's nominations, however, and requested an adjournment until after Wolfley was appointed as the new governor, who would appoint his own candidates. Many of the Democratic nominees, however, refused to vacate their offices. They justified this on the grounds that the territorial legislature exceeded its allowed session limit of 60 days prior to the confirmation of the Republican nominees and that the governor could only take a break from sitting if the current incumbent was either dead or resigned. As a result, due to their earlier appointment with the Democratic incumbents, the Arizona Territory effectively had two sets of Territorial officials who controlled the buildings and required archives to perform various duties.

The territorial government's ability to operate was severely affected by the two sets of territorial officials. As a first step in resolving this, a lawsuit was filed to determine that the Republican nominees for the Territorial Treasury were the rightful incumbents. The court ruled in favor of the Republican nominees, but the reasons for the verdict caused the other Republican nominees to be reluctant to file a lawsuit. While the courts eventually ruled Wolfley's appointments, he was his administration, withholding wages from all Democratic nominees and eventually forcing them to vacate their offices.

Wolfley's internal power struggles also extended to members of his own party. William Christy, an unsuccessful candidate for governor, supported a group seeking to remove the governor from office. Wolfley was also troubled by his political opponents, who were given state posts over time. An example of this was George Christ, who supported Brewster Cameron as Wolfley's opponent in the nomination and was appointed customs collector in Nogales . Second was the appointment of Richard Elihu Sloan as judge in the First Judicial District of the Arizona Territory. Wolfley first supported the appointment, but then changed his mind when Sloan named Cameron his clerk.

The main work of the Wolfley administration was to refinance the territorial debt. The low interest rate achieved by the refinancing reduced the annual interest payments to $ 59,006.40. In an attempt to reduce the transport-related price differences that existed between different parts of Arizona, he lobbied the creation of new railroads to connect the northern and southern halves of the territory. The governor also faced several event-driven concerns. The possible return of the Chiricahua to Arizona became a point after which the federal government relocated them from Florida to Alabama . After looking at a number of possible locations, the Apaches were finally settled near Fort Sill in the Indiana Territory (now Oklahoma ). The continued influx of Mormon settlers into the territory was another point, as their tendency to vote as a closed bloc caused him concern. He called it the most dangerous and unscrupulous factor in politics. The last point was James Reavis with his malicious claim to land allocation on the order of 18,000 square miles (47,000 km²), which caused a complete settlement interruption by 1904.

In late 1889, most of the newspapers in the Territory called for Wolfley's resignation. To counter the hostility of these newspapers and his political enemies, Wolfley helped establish The Arizona Republic as a forum for his views to the outside world. His efforts weren't enough to keep his job. After being asked to resign, Wolfley submitted his resignation on August 20, 1890.

Another résumé

After his resignation Wolfley moved to Prescott , where he worked again as a civil engineer and as a surveyor. One of Wolfley's projects was to survey 414,000 acres (1,680 km²) along the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad . Another project was an earth dam on the Gila River . After nearly $ 750,000 was spent building the dam, a flood washed away the work. On the occasion of a negative verdict in the subsequent court case, Wolfley demanded that all judges of the Supreme Court be replaced.

Wolfley made another petition for governor in 1897, but was not nominated by US President William McKinley . In 1908 he moved to Los Angeles, where he tried to use ocean waves to generate electricity. Wolfley died in 1910 after being hit by a tram. He was then buried in Prescott's IOOF Cemetery .

literature

• Goff, John S. (1978). Arizona Territorial Officials Volume II: The Governors 1863-1912. Cave Creek, Arizona: Black Mountain Press. OCLC 5100411 .
• Wagoner, Jay J. (1970). Arizona Territory 1863-1912: A Political history. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. ISBN 0-8165-0176-9 .

Web links

• Lewis Wolfley in the database of Find a Grave (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Goff pp. 108-9
2. ↑ ^{a b} Goff pp. 109
3. ↑ ^{a b} Wagoner pp. 259
4. ↑ Goff pp. 109-110
5. ↑ Goff pp. 110
6. ↑ Wagoner pp. 257
7. ↑ Goff pp. 112
8. ↑ ^{a b} Wagoner pp. 260
9. ↑ Wagoner pp. 261
10. ↑ Wagoner pp. 263
11. ↑ Goff pp. 113
12. ↑ Wagoner pp. 264-5
13. ↑ Wagoner pp. 265-6
14. ↑ Wagoner pp. 268-9
15. ↑ ^{a b} Wagoner pp. 275
16. ↑ Wagoner pp. 269
17. ↑ Wagoner pp. 271-4
18. ↑ Goff pp. 114
19. ↑ Wagoner pp. 268
20. ↑ Wagoner pp. 276, 278
21. ↑ Goff pp. 116
22. ↑ ^{a b} Goff pp. 117