Lorenzo D. Lewelling

Lorenzo Dow Lewelling (born December 21, 1846 in Salem , Henry County , Iowa , † September 3, 1900 in Arkansas City , Kansas ) was an American politician and from 1893 to 1895 the twelfth governor of the state of Kansas.

Early years and political advancement

Lorenzo Lewelling attended Knox College , Eastman Business College in Poughkeepsie, and Whittier College . He graduated there in 1867. To finance his training, he took on many jobs in a wide variety of areas. Due to his age and religion (he was a Quaker) he did not take an active part in the civil war. Eventually he became a teacher in Iowa and then head of a girls' school for 15 years from 1872. In the meantime he published an anti- republican newspaper called “Des Moins Capital” . In 1887 Lewelling settled in Wichita, Kansas. There he worked, among other things, as a moneylender and was involved in the newly created People's Party , also known as the Populist Party . This party emerged from the Farmers' Alliance and saw itself as a representative of farmers and industrial workers. Later this party merged with the Democratic Party . In 1892 he was then nominated as their candidate for the gubernatorial elections.

Kansas Governor

After the successful election Lewelling could begin his two-year term on January 9, 1893. The beginning of this term of office should be stormy. At that time the Republicans had a majority in the state parliament. The populists and the democrats did not recognize this majority because, in their opinion, it had come about through electoral fraud. Parliament split into these two groups. Both sides elected a Speaker of Parliament and met in the same building at different times. The governor naturally recognized his democratic-populist faction as the rightful one. This further escalated the dispute. The situation became even more bizarre when the Republican faction in Parliament was besieged. The matter went to the Kansas Supreme Court . Meanwhile, riots broke out in the capital, Topeka , and the National Guard was deployed to maintain order. Eventually the court ruled in favor of the Republicans. The parliament was reunited and the so-called "Legislative War of 1893" was over.

An electoral reform followed during Lewelling's tenure. The governor also had to deal with some labor unrest. Otherwise, Kansas took off at that time, also because oil and gas deposits had been discovered there and companies were thus attracted.

Another résumé

Lewelling ran for re-election in 1892 without success. After his tenure ended, he served in the Kansas Senate from 1896 to 1900 . At the same time he was from 1897 to 1899 in the railway committee. Shortly before his death in 1900, he was still the manager of the lands of a railway company. He died in September 1900. Lorenzo Lewelling was married to Ida Bishop; the couple had four children.

Web links

• Lorenzo Lewelling in the National Governors Association (English)
• Biography at the Kansas Historical Society (English)
• Lorenzo D. Lewelling in the database of Find a Grave (English)