Mahonri Moriancumer Steele Jr. (1870-1937)

From the Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 1913.

  The son of Utah pioneers, the impressively named Mahonri Moriancumer Steele Jr. carved a notable career for himself in Garfield and Millard County, Utah, where he was prominent in Republican politics. A former county recorder and county clerk for Garfield County, Steele was later elected to a term as chief clerk of the Utah House of Representatives. Additionally, Steele served as chairman of the Garfield and Piute County Republican committee and for several years was a member of the Utah Republican State Executive Committee. Born in Toquerville, Utah on February 2, 1870, Mahonri Moriancumer Steele Jr. was the son of Mahonri Moriancumer and Emily Bunker Steele. A distinguished figure in his own right, Mahonri Steele Sr. (1849-1923) was a patriarch in the LDS church and a former Iron County deputy sheriff who also served a term on the Utah state land board. Both father and son were given the names Mahonri Moriancumer, a figure in the Book of Mormon mentioned as "the brother of Jared." Though unnamed in this work, LDS church founder Joseph Smith revealed in 1834 that the Lord revealed it to him shortly before naming and blessing a baby in Kirtland, Ohio.

   While his name may be impressive, most period literature records Steele under the name "M.M. Steele Jr", and his 1937 obituary denotes his nickname, "Hon".  He was a student in the district schools of Washington County, and in 1892 graduated from the Latter Day Saint College in Salt Lake City. He resided and taught school in Panguitch in the late 1880s and at an unknown date was admitted to practice law in Utah.  In October 1889 he wed Charlotte Moore LeFever (1873-1941), and the couple's near five-decade marriage produced eleven children: Lindsay (1890-1918), Frances Fern (1893-1970), Abigail (1895-1975), Harold LeFever (1898-1923), Doyle LeFever (1899-1998), Faymetta (1902-1986), Lila (1904-1988), Arthello Mahonri (1908-1986), Irene (1910-2001), Wanda (1911-1992), and Itha (1913-1999).

  Beginning in the early 1890s the name of Mahonri Steele Jr. became one of the most prominent in Garfield County Republican politics. Following election as justice of the peace for the Panguitch district, Steele was elected as Garfield County recorder in 1893, and after a term of two years won election as county clerk. His time in that post extended until 1901, and in 1895 had been elected chairman of the Garfield County Republican committee. This office also saw Steele as a member of the Utah Republican State Executive Committee for two terms, beginning in 1897. In March 1900 Steele was chosen as Sergeant-at-Arms of the Utah Republican State Convention held in Salt Lake City, and at the turn of the 19th century entered the publishing business, being the editor of the Panguitch Progress for a period beginning in 1899.

From "Utah As It Is", 1904.

  With his name firmly established in state Republican circles, M.M. Steele Jr. was elected as chief clerk of the Utah House of Representatives at the opening of the January 1901 session. He served through the 1901 term and shortly after leaving office was touted as a candidate for state statistician, his name being put forward by legislative engrossing clerk F.J. Hendershott. While he may have been passed over for that post, Steele continued in government service with his appointment that October as a postal inspector for the Rural Free Delivery service.

  Steele served as a postal inspector for six years, and in the mid-1900s removed to Piute County, where in 1906 he was a candidate for county surveyor. In January 1910 he served as a delegate to the Good Roads convention in Salt Lake, where delegates discussed "building 20 miles of model roadway in Utah every year, 10 miles north and 10 miles south from Salt Lake until the state boundaries are reached." In September of that year, Steele was returned to the Utah Republican State Executive Committee, representing Piute County from 1910-12.

  By September 1912 Steele had removed to Beaver County, and in that year was a delegate to the Utah State Republican Convention, where he sat on the committees on platform and permanent resolutions. Following his resettlement he engaged in mining in the region, serving as president of the Tot Eiler Gold Mining Company. Capitalized "for over 1,000,000 shares" Steele's company discovered "an auriferous body of sand averaging $2.60 in gold and silver", with Steele remarking "I believe we have one of the biggest cheap placer propositions in the state." Additionally, Steele would hold the presidency of the Beaver Irrigated Land Company for an indeterminate period.

  M.M. Steele Jr. would remove once again around 1914, settling in Millard County. Establishing himself in Delta, he held the presidency of the Delta Commission Co., dealing in land and livestock. He continued prominence in Republican circles following his move, serving as secretary of the Republican Central Committee of Millard County in 1916-17, and in 1918 announced his candidacy for Millard County Attorney. In the fall of 1918 his candidacy was profiled in the Millard County Chronicle Progress, which noted:

"His extensive experience in government positions and as an attorney at law has made him exceptionally fitted for the office of County Attorney. On account of the trying times, under which we are now laboring, the mature age, judgement, experience and fitness of Mr. Steele is of inestimable value for Millard County."

  In November 1918 Steele narrowly lost out to Democratic candidate G.A. Niles, who polled 979 votes to his own 937. In the early 1920s Steele served as Millard County road commissioner, work that saw him name "The Grand Central Highway from Delta to Ely and worked hard in getting it put thru." In 1922 he visited Los Angeles to confer with officials on having the the Grand Central Highway logged, and for the majority of 1927 was based in Hamilton, Nevada, where he had an interest in a lead-silver mine.

   The final years of Mahonri Moriancumer Steele Jr. were spent at his home in Delta, where he died on September 27, 1937, aged 67. He was survived by his wife and nine children and was interred at the Delta Cemetery.

From the Garfield County News, September 30, 1937.

Karelius Nelson (1868-1937)

From the Sisseton Weekly Standard, October 23, 1914.

  From North Dakota, we journey to that state's southern neighbor to highlight the life of Karelius Nelson, a Swedish native who was elected to three terms in the South Dakota House of Representatives. Following his resettlement in the United States, Nelson resided in Minnesota, where he farmed, and later engaged in railroad work. After migrating to Roberts County, South Dakota he entered into the grain elevator business and before his legislative service was elected as Roberts County clerk of courts. The son of Nils and Karin Nelson, Karelius Nelson was born in Varmland, Sweden on May 2, 1868. 

  Nelson's formative years were spent in Sweden, where he attended public school. He later took a special course in mathematics. At age eighteen he left Sweden for a new life in the United States, and first settled in Minnesota. For the next several years he worked at farming and on the railroads, and in 1892 removed to Roberts County, South Dakota. Here he established a farm, which, by the turn of the 19th century consisted of "three hundred acres of fine land." Nelson returned to Minnesota in October 1894 to marry Maria Sophia Erickson (1863--1941), to who he was wed for forty-three years. The couple would have seven children, Cora (1895-1987), Mamie Edith (1897-1988), Carl Arthur (1898-1962), Ruth Mabel (1900-2001), Agnes (1902-1929), Karin (1905-1921), and Nels Gottfred (1909-2000).

  For the majority of his life, Nelson followed farming in Roberts County and entered the business sector of his community with his time as secretary of the White Rock Telephone Company. He also entered the grainery business, being the secretary of the Farmer's Elevator Company in Rosholt. He was active in the Lutheran Church and entered local politics when he was elected as a township supervisor. He later won terms as a school clerk and justice of the peace, and in 1914 entered into the race for Roberts County clerk of courts. He proved successful at the polls and was elected that November, and went on to win a second term in 1916.

From the 1919 South Dakota Legislative Manual.

    In 1918 Karelius Nelson announced his candidacy for the South Dakota House of Representatives, and in November was elected. Taking his seat at the start of the 1919-21 term, he was named to the committees on Appropriations, Dairy Products, and Statistics. In November 1920 Nelson won a second term, and from 1921-23 served on the same four committees from the previous session.

  Following his second term, Nelson was affiliated with the Rosholt Community Bank as a director, and in 1930 won a third term in the statehouse. Little else is known of Nelson's life after the completion of his term in 1933, except notice of his death on February 15, 1937, in Breckinridge, Minnesota. Nelson was survived by his wife Maria, who, following her death in 1941, was interred alongside him at the St. Joseph Cemetery in Rosholt, South Dakota.

From the South Dakota State Manual, 1931.

Menalcus Lankford (1883-1937)

From the Harrisonburg Daily New Record.

   The bespectacled man pictured is Virginia Congressman Menalcus Lankford, certainly one of the more oddly named 20th century U.S. Representatives you'll read about here on the site. I first discovered the name of this obscure politician in 2001, courtesy of the politicalgraveyard website. Since locating his name over a decade ago Lankford's apparent facelessness became the stuff of legend, with no portrait of the man coming to light in all that time. You'd figure that an individual of Lankford's stature would have at least one picture of himself pop up in some form, but sadly this wasn't the case! I eventually gave up hope that I'd see a picture of Lankford, and decided that he may have been camera shy, hence why I hadn't located any pictures of him yet.

   With that being said, I'm pleased to announce that during a furtive search on the newspaperarchive website (mentioned in this site's introduction), a picture of Mr. Lankford has finally been located, courtesy of the Harrisonburg Daily News Record! This rare portrait of him appeared in his obituary in the above-mentioned newspaper on December 28, 1937, and with that introduction, we'll now take a look at the life of this now obscure Virginia politician.

   Born on March 14, 1883, near Franklin, Virginia, Menalcus Lankford was one of four sons born to Dr. Livius and Mary Conway Burnley Lankford. The name "Menalcus" has its origins in Greek mythology and is also spelled "Menalcas". Its meaning is given as one who is "strong, firm, resolute" and was featured in an ancient work by the Greek poet Virgil called the Eclogues. Known by family and contemporaries as "Mack", Menalcus Lankford attended Norfolk High School and later went on to study at the University of Richmond, graduating in the class of 1904. He continued his education at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, earning his bachelor of laws degree in 1906. 

   Lankford was admitted to the Virginia Bar in the same year as his graduation and soon after opened a law practice in the city of Norfolk. In 1909 he married Richmond native Nancy Garland Waddill (1886-1963), and the couple is recorded as being childless. Lankford put his career in law on hold in 1917 when he became an ensign in the aviation service in the U.S. Navy. He served in the Navy throughout American involvement in World War I and at the war's conclusion returned to his law practice in Virginia.

   In 1920 Lankford made the jump into politics, mounting a campaign for Congress. He would lose that election to incumbent Republican Joseph Deal by a vote of 15, 318 to 5, 389. Another candidacy for a Congressional seat in 1924 met with similar results, but in 1928 the political tide turned in favor of Lankford, and in November of that year he won election to Congress, defeating Joseph Deal by nearly 4,000 votes. An article mentioning Lankford's election to the house appeared in the 1929 edition of the San Jose News and also makes light of the coincidence that two men with the last name "Lankford" were then serving as a U.S. Representative (the other being seven-term Georgia congressman William Chester Lankford). In this article, attention is given to Menalcus' odd first name, and the congressman himself is recorded as saying that as far as legislation was concerned, "I'm more in favor of putting more joy into people's lives than taking more out. The more we let people alone the better off we'll be."

   Within months of taking his seat, Lankford made headlines in Virginia newspapers when he proposed a novel solution to aid state produce growers. In his farm relief plan, Lankford proposed the construction of "government canneries and central storage houses" as a "means of handling farm surpluses." In a Richmond Times-Dispatch interview on his idea, Lankford noted that he and a delegation of Norfolk citizens aimed to present the plan to Secretary of Agriculture Arthur Mastick Hyde, noting:

"This would offer a real solution, I believe, to the problem to disposing of the surplus from Virginia farms. Since the chief object of the special session of Congress is to provide some means of handling farm surpluses, I think this is a highly worthy plan to present at this time. This plan would keep Virginia money back home where it belongs. It would eliminate the chances of loss for truck farmers through dishonest dealing by commission merchants, would cut the heavy freight charges no necessary to reach the markets, and would give an effective means of handling the surplus crops of the State."

                                                   From a 1929 edition of the San Jose News.

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch, December 10, 1935.

   Lankford was re-elected to Congress in November 1930 (again defeating Joseph Deal) and was unsuccessful in his bid for a third term in November 1932. He would serve as a delegate to the 1932 and 1936 Republican National Conventions in Chicago and Cleveland, and in 1933 was named as U.S. referee in bankruptcy for the Eastern District of Virginia. A member of the University of Richmond's board of trustees, Lankford was honored at a December 1935 banquet by his alma mater, not for his status as a politician, but for his past prowess on the football field. In a Richmond Times-Dispatch profile, Lankford was remarked as a standout member of the Richmond Spiders football and baseball teams:

"Mr. Lankford served on the football team for four years, captained the 1904 eleven, and played baseball for two years. He was a catcher on the baseball team, fullback on the football team, and one of the best all around athletes in the history of Richmond athletics. In 1904 he was awarded the trophy as the outstanding athelete at the school."

   Lankford served as a university trustee until his death at age 54 on December 27, 1937, at his home in Norfolk. Lankford was memorialized by ex-President Herbert Hoover in his Harrisonburg Daily News-Record obituary as "a great American idealistically devoted to the interest of the country. As great as his loss is to us, it is a great loss to the nation." Several days following his death Lankford was interred at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Norfolk, Virginia. He was survived by his wife of nearly thirty years, Nancy Waddill Lankford, who, following her death in 1963, was interred at Forest Lawn next to her husband.