William Haselden Ellerbe

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William Haselden Ellerbe (around 1890)

William Haselden Ellerbe (born April 7, 1862 in Marion , South Carolina ; † June 2, 1899 ) was an American politician and governor of South Carolina from 1897 to 1899 .

Early years

William Ellerbe attended Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina and Vanderbilt University in Nashville , Tennessee . He then worked as a planter and businessman in South Carolina . Politically, he joined the Democratic Party. Unlike most of his predecessors, he was never an MP or Senator, either in South Carolina or Washington. Between 1890 and 1892 he was head of the South Carolina Court of Auditors (Comptroller General). In 1894 he tried unsuccessfully to nominate his party for the gubernatorial election.

Governor of south carolina

For the upcoming gubernatorial elections in 1896, Ellerbe was nominated as a top candidate by his party. In the elections on November 3 of this year, he was elected the new governor with 89.1% of the vote. Two years later he was even confirmed in office without a candidate. During his tenure he had to recruit troops for the war against Spain. Due to the brevity of the war, it had little effect on South Carolina. A general income tax was first introduced in South Carolina in March 1897. On the race issue, the governor continued the conservative stance of his two predecessors Benjamin Ryan Tillman and John Gary Evans . In February 1898 a law was passed requiring blacks and whites to travel in separate train cars. The segregation then walked quickly ahead and so it was his re-election on the day the governor, November 8, 1898 in Greenwood County to race riots in which seven blacks and a white man were killed. Governor Ellerbe could not finish his second term. He died in office on June 2, 1899. He was married to Henrietta Rogers. The couple had six children.

literature

  • Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 4. Meckler Books, Westport, CT, 1978. 4 volumes.
  • The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. 12. James T. White & Company, New York

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Ellerbe, William Haselden
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Governor of south carolina
DATE OF BIRTH April 7, 1862
PLACE OF BIRTH Marion South Carolina
DATE OF DEATH June 2, 1899