William John Janklow was an American lawyer and politician and member of the Republican Party who holds the record for the longest tenure as Governor of South Dakota:sixteen years in office. Janklow had the third-longest gubernatorial tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history at 5,851 days.
The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2,1861,until November 2,1889,when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.
George Arthur Mathews was an American lawyer of Brookings,South Dakota. He was active in the government of the Dakota Territory,and was a territorial delegate to the United States House of Representatives.
Richard Franklin Pettigrew was an American lawyer,surveyor,and land developer. He represented the Dakota Territory in the U.S. Congress and,after the Dakotas were admitted as States,he was the first U.S. Senator from South Dakota.
Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar was an American politician,lawyer,and jurist from Massachusetts. He served as U.S. Attorney General from 1869 to 1870,and was the first head of the newly created Department of Justice. Hoar assisted President Ulysses S. Grant in appointing two United States Supreme Court justices and was himself nominated to the Court. His nomination was rejected by the United States Senate,in part for his positions on patronage reform. In 1871,Hoar was appointed by Grant to the United States high commission that negotiated the Treaty of Washington between the U.S. and the United Kingdom,helping to settle the Alabama Claims.
Henry Brewster Stanton was an American abolitionist,social reformer,attorney,journalist and politician. His writing was published in the New York Tribune, the New York Sun, and William Lloyd Garrison's Anti-Slavery Standard and The Liberator. He was elected to the New York State Senate in 1850 and 1851. His wife,Elizabeth Cady Stanton,was a world renowned leading figure of the early women's rights movement.
William Henry Parker was an American attorney,South Dakota politician,and American Civil War veteran. Parker served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Colorado and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from South Dakota.
Coe Isaac Crawford was an American attorney and politician from South Dakota. He served as the sixth Governor and as a U.S. Senator.
Harlan John Bushfield was an American politician from South Dakota. He served as the 16th governor of South Dakota and as a United States senator.
Gideon Curtis Moody was an attorney and politician,elected in 1889 as a Republican United States Senator from South Dakota. He served two years. He also had served five years as an associate justice of the Dakota Territory Supreme Court,from 1878 to 1883,before entering private practice for a period as general counsel for Homestake Mine.
Philo Hall was a South Dakota attorney and politician. He served as Attorney General of South Dakota and a member of the United States House of Representatives.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts played a significant role in national events prior to and during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Massachusetts Republicans dominated the early antislavery movement during the 1830s,motivating activists across the nation. This,in turn,increased sectionalism in the North and South,one of the factors that led to the war. Politicians from Massachusetts,echoing the views of social activists,further increased national tensions. The state was dominated by the Republican Party and was also home to many Republican leaders who promoted harsh treatment of slave owners and,later,the former civilian leaders of the Confederate States of America and the military officers in the Confederate Army.
The 1889 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on October 1,1889,to elect the first Governor of South Dakota. Territorial Governor Arthur C. Mellette received the Republican nomination and faced former Territorial Commissioner of Immigration P. F. McClure,the Democratic nominee,in the general election. Mellette defeated McClure in a landslide.
The 1892 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 8,1892. Incumbent Republican Governor Arthur C. Mellette declined to seek re-election to a third term. Former territorial legislator Charles H. Sheldon was nominated by the Republican Party as Mellette's replacement,and he faced former legislator Abraham Lincoln Van Osdel,a leader in the South Dakota Farmers' Alliance and the nominee of the Independent Party,along with Democratic nominee Peter Couchman,in the general election. The result was largely a replay of the 1890 election,with Sheldon winning by a large margin,but only a plurality,and Van Osdel taking second place over Couchman.
The 1896 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 3,1896. Incumbent Republican Governor Charles H. Sheldon declined to run for re-election to a third term. Former Secretary of State Amund O. Ringsrud was nominated as Sheldon's replacement at the Republican convention. Ringrud's main opponent was businessman Andrew E. Lee,who was nominated by a makeshift coalition of Populists,Free Silver Republicans,and Democrats. In the general election,Lee narrowly defeated Ringsrud,the first defeat for the Republican Party in a gubernatorial election since statehood.
The following works deal with the cultural,political,economic,military,biographical and geologic history of pre-territorial South Dakota,the southern part of Dakota Territory and the State of South Dakota.
John L. Pyle was an attorney and politician from the state of South Dakota. A Republican,he was notable for his service as State's Attorney of Hand County (1886-1888) and state Attorney General (1899-1902).
Melvin Grigsby was an American attorney,politician,and military leader from South Dakota. A Union Army veteran of the American Civil War,Grigsby was most notable for his service as South Dakota Attorney General and an organizer and commander of the 3rd United States Volunteer Cavalry Regiment during the Spanish–American War.
The 1950 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 7,1950. Incumbent Republican Governor George T. Mickelson was unable to seek re-election to a third term due to newly imposed term limits. Accordingly,a competitive race to replace him ensued. Attorney General Sigurd Anderson won a slim plurality in the Republican primary,barely exceeding 35% and narrowly avoiding having the Republican nomination sent to the state party convention. In the general election,Anderson faced State Representative Joe Robbie. Anderson easily defeated Robbie,winning his first term with 61% of the vote to Robbie's 39%.
Merritt Horace Day,sometimes called Col. M.H. Day,was an early pioneer,rancher,mine owner,and legislator in the Dakota Territory. Merritt Day was a "pronounced advocate for the division of Dakota," into the separate U.S. states of North Dakota and South Dakota,and Day County,South Dakota,is named in his honor. Day was commander of an irregular state militia in South Dakota during the Ghost Dance War. During the lead-up to what is now known as the Wounded Knee Massacre,"Col. Day" was issued hundreds of rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition by the state governor,which he distributed to the 60 to 200 men of the Spring Creek Volunteers. These civilians are estimated to have killed between 12 and 18 Lakota in mid-December 1890,"kinsmen,brothers,or sons of the Lakota seeking refuge on Stronghold."
