Orcemas Orvil Davis (1875-1940)

From the Salt Lake City Tribune, February 9, 1940.

  As 2020 slowly winds to a close we make our first stop in Wyoming this year to highlight the life of Orcemas Orvil Davis, a transplant to that state from Illinois. A journalist and newspaper editor in the town of Green River, Davis would be a candidate for the Wyoming state senate and Wyoming Secretary of State prior to his appointment as U.S. Postmaster at Green River, serving in that capacity until his death. Born in Biggsville, Henderson County, Illinois on May 24, 1875, Orcemas Orvil "O.O." Davis was the son of Alphonso Milton and Hulda Ann (Smith) Davis.

  The son of a decorator and painter, Davis's early education was obtained in schools "in the various places where the family resided." As a youth Davis met both President Benjamin Harrison and boxing champion John L. Sullivan and is remarked as having shined the shoes of both men. After attaining the seventh grade Davis elected to strike out on his own, taking employment as a printer's devil in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Working on the staff of the Daily Avalanche Echo, he remained there two years and having learned the printing trade relocated to Utah, where he became head of the Brighton Record.

  Davis's stay in Utah later saw him take charge of the Mercur Record in the town of Mercury, and at age 20 bought the Lehi Hustler, which he edited for one year. This post was followed by a four-year stint as foreman of the Rock Springs Miner in Wyoming, and in the mid-1890s had charge of the Rock Springs Independent. In 1899 he removed to Green River, where he became editor of the Green River Star, which he purchased the following year. He continued as its head until 1906, whereafter he sold his interest and removed to Nyassa, Oregon.

  In February 1899 O.O. Davis married Anna P. Dykes (1880-1959), to who he was wed until his death, The couple had four children, Gladys Fern (1902-1951), Hulda Viola (died 1911), Raymond Milton (1906-1973), John Ross (born 1910). O.O. Davis's residency in Oregon last only briefly, and during his time there established the Nyassa News. The climate interfering with his health, he and his family soon removed to Denver, Colorado, where he built up two advertising papers, the Five Point Star and the West Point Advertiser. In addition to those papers, Davis also operated a "job printing shop" in the city. 

  In 1908 the Davis family removed back to Green River, where Davis re-purchased the Green River Advertiser, with which he was connected for the next twenty-eight years. Under Davis's stewardship, the Advertiser's plant was outfitted with then up-to-date machinery and:

"He issues a fine eight page paper published in the interests of the democratic party and devoted to the upbuilding of his city, county, and state. He has made the Star the champion of all progressive movements for public benefit and his paper has become both the molder and the mirror of public opinion."

  Although a leading Democratic figure in Sweetwater County, O.O. Davis refrained from political candidacy until 1928, when he won the Democratic nomination for state senator. In November of that year, Davis was defeated by Republican candidate Thomas Gibson, who polled 3,274 votes to his own 1,758.

From the Wyoming Blue Book.

From the Casper Star-Tribune, June 22, 1930.

  Two years after his state senate run Davis was induced to reenter the political field, announcing his candidacy for Wyoming Secretary of State in June 1930. After filing his petition, Davis noted that he had served as a water superintendent for Wyoming's fourth division, calling it the only public office he had held. One of four candidates vying for the nomination in that year's primary election, Davis won out in June, polling 9,061 votes. In the general election, Davis opposed Republican candidate Alonzo M. Clark, and on November 4, 1930, was dealt a loss to Clark, polling 27,258 votes to 41,653.

  Davis returned to his newspaper after his defeat and in 1932 saw his son Raymond win the first of two terms as a Wyoming state representative, being remarked as the youngest legislator to serve in the 1933-35 session. In 1936 Davis was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt as U.S. Postmaster at Green River and turned over operation of the Star to his wife and son Raymond. Davis served until his death on February 7, 1940, aged 64, having been ill for a few days prior. He was interred at the Riverview Cemetery in Green River.

From the Salt Lake Tribune, February 9, 1940.

Amable Oli Moreaux (1874-1942)

From the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, June 27, 1942.

  Just a few days following the write up on Nebraska newspaper publisher Mentor Alsworth Brown, another oddly named newspaperman is featured here, Amable Oli Moreaux of Minnesota. Like Brown, Moreaux headed his newspaper for the better part of forty years and also had fleeting involvement in politics in his state, being a delegate to the Republican National Convention of 1924. While still actively engaged as a publisher, Moreaux lost his life in a collision with a gas tanker truck near Luverne, Minnesota. A lifelong Minnesotan, Amable Oli Moreaux was born in Jackson County on June 28, 1874, one of seven children born to Isadore and Anna (Tweeton) Moreaux.

  In early childhood, Moreaux had brief residencies with his family in Winnebago City and Mankato, Minnesota before settling in Rock County in 1878. In the latter portion of that year, the Moreaux family established a home in Luverne, where young Amable worked the farm in the summer months and attended school during the winter. 

  Amable O. Moreaux first entered into the publishing field in October 1892 when he joined the staff of the Rock County Herald as a printer's apprentice, working under owner Herbert Miller (a future Minnesota state senator.) After several years of learning the trade and working his way through the paper's hierarchy Moreaux advanced to the post of foreman, and later took on the role of city editor. Upon the retirement of Herbert Miller in 1907 Moreaux succeeded to the ownership of the paper, and would eventually purchase it in 1909 upon Miller's death.

  Moreaux's stewardship of the Herald continued until his death in 1942, and the paper subsequently earned the reputation as "one of the leading country journals of Minnesota." Moreaux's editorial work would see him elected as president of the Second Congressional district's editorial association in 1910 and in 1918 was elected as president of the Minnesota Newspaper Association for a one year term. He married Nellie M. Brown (1889-1950) in November 1919 and later had three children, Amable (died in infancy in 1921), Charles Mabe (died in infancy in 1927) and Charles Mabe Moreaux (1929-1987).

   The 1920s would see Moreaux become heavily invested in the development of a proposed seaway to be constructed on the St. Lawrence River. This proposal later led to the establishment of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Tidewater Association, which comprised twenty-one states. Moreaux joined the association in 1920 and later served as its chairman for a number of years, and in 1936 was one of several delegates from the group to confer with President Roosevelt on the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Moreaux's long connection to this project also saw him hold the presidency of the Minnesota Tidewater Association and the directorship of the Great Lakes Waterways Association.

  Long active in Rock County Republican circles, Moreaux served as part of the Minnesota delegation to the 1924 Republican National Convention in Cleveland where Calvin Coolidge was nominated for the presidency, and in 1926 was a member of the Minnesota State Republican Committee for the 2nd district.

  Amable O. Moreaux continued prominence in Minnesota civic affairs until his death in an automobile accident in June 1942. On June 26th of that year the car in which Moreaux was sole occupant collided with a gas truck near Luverne, and he succumbed to his injuries the following day. The driver of the truck, Albert Ericson of Willmar, Minnesota, was uninjured. Following funeral arrangements, Moreaux was returned to Luverne for burial at the Maplewood Cemetery.

This photo of the Moreaux accident appeared in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, June 27, 1942.

From the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

Mentor Alsworth Brown (1853-1932)

From "the Official Programme of Exercises and Illustrated Inaugural History", 1904.

  As the Cornhusker State is so seldom featured here, it's always a pleasant surprise to have an oddly named Nebraskan pop up on the political radar. Yesterday afternoon the name of Mentor Alsworth Brown was discovered via a listing of early 20th century Nebraska postmasters, and hiding behind that odd name lay the story of one of the longest-tenured newspaper publishers in Nebraska. The founder, editor, and publisher of the Kearney Hub, Brown's stewardship of that paper extended nearly fifty years, and during that period also gained the reputation as a leading Buffalo County Republican. Brown earns placement here on the site not only for his eight-year stint as U.S. Postmaster at Kearney but also for his service as a Republican presidential elector for Nebraska in 1904.

  A native of Wisconsin, Mentor Alsworth Brown was born in Janesville on February 19, 1853, the son of Jeremiah and Anne (Pound) Brown. Young Mentor would lose his mother when just a year old and later saw his father go off to serve in the Civil War as a member of the 25th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. In 1864 Brown was left fatherless when Jeremiah Brown died during the "March to the Sea", while under the command of Gen. William T. Sherman.

  At age thirteen Mentor Brown left his native Wisconsin to take work as a printer's devil in Jefferson, Iowa. After a period of familiarizing himself with the basics of the printing trade, Brown left Iowa for Nebraska, and in 1870 became engaged with the Redfield Printing Office in Omaha. Following a brief residency in Council Bluffs, Iowa on the staff of the Daily Nonpareil, Brown returned to Nebraska to accept the post of foreman for the Beatrice Express. In 1874 he purchased a half interest in the paper and by 1877 had become its sole owner, purchasing it from I.W. Colby.

  Mentor A. Brown married in 1878 to Elizabeth Beecham Bunnell (1854-1901) and had three children, including Ulysses Alsworth (1880-1957). The couple later separated and in November 1883 Brown remarried in Beatrice to Sophia G. Schmidt and had three further children, Frederick, Oliver, and Hugh.  

  After assuming control of the Beatrice Express Brown switched its circulation to a daily format in 1884 and in 1888 sold off his controlling interest in the paper and removed to Kearney, where he purchased the Central Nebraska Press. Soon after, the paper underwent a name change to the Kearney Hub, and in the succeeding years Brown could boast of a large printing plant with many skilled workers and managers, along with "a leased wire telegraphic service."

From the Illustrated History of Nebraska, Vol. III, 1913.

   Active in the civic life of Kearney following his resettlement, Brown was a parishioner at the local Episcopal church and was a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Kearney Country Club, Rotary Club, and Elks Lodge. In 1881 he held the presidency of the Nebraska Press Association. A longtime Republican in his region, Brown served as a Republican presidential elector for Nebraska in 1904 (backing the Roosevelt-Fairbanks ticket) and at the assembling of the electoral college was chosen as the messenger to bring the voting results to Washington, D.C. Following Theodore Roosevelt's election, Brown was appointed by him as U.S. Postmaster at Kearney. Brown would hold that post through the Roosevelt and Taft administrations and served one year into the administration of Democrat Woodrow Wilson before leaving office in April 1914.

From the Red Cloud Chief, March 15, 1923.

  By the early 1920s Mentor A. Brown could reflect on five decades in the newspaper business, and in that time had seen three of his sons (Ulysses, Oliver, and Hugh) follow him into the printing trade. Brown's twilight years were spent in devotion to his paper, as well as his favorite past-time, golfing. He remained as head of the Kearney Hub until his death on September 29, 1932, at age 79. His publishing career had spanned sixty-two years and he was succeeded as head by his son Hugh. Brown was survived by his wife and children and was interred at the Kearney Cemetery.

From the Nebraska State Journal, September 30, 1932.

Anak Thomas Atwater (1872-1949)

Portrait from the History of the American Negro and His Institutions, Georgia edition, 1917.

  A leading black newspaper publisher during the early 20th century, Anak Thomas Atwater was the founder of the Rome Enterprise, the first black newspaper to be published in that city. A teacher and principal prior to his time in the publishing field, Atwater was also active in Republican circles in Floyd County, being the secretary of the county Republican executive committee and was a six-time delegate to the Republican National Convention from Georgia. A son of D.C. Atwater and the former Amanda Ragland, Anak Thomas Atwater was born in Upson County, Georgia on August 21, 1872. 

  Sharing a first name with a biblical figure whose name is shared with the Anakim, a race of giants who inhabited Canaan, young Anak T. Atwater traveled with his itinerant minister father during his formative years, and following a period of work and accumulating income enrolled at the Atlanta University in 1891. His time here extended until 1898, during which time he "completed the grammar and college preparatory courses", as well as other classes. After the completion of his studies, Atwater relocated to Danville, New York to take a teaching course, but remained here only briefly, returning to Georgia in 1899.

  Following his return to Georgia Atwater continued his burgeoning career in education, taking the position of principal of the East Rome Industrial School. His stewardship of that school later saw the erection of a "large two story school building", a feat accomplished "without one dollar from any public fund." He remained in that post until 1904 when he decided to enter into newspaper publishing, establishing the Rome Enterprise, acknowledged as the first African-American newspaper in the city. Atwater would run the paper out of a publishing office at his home, and when not delivering his papers directly, was aided by older children in the neighborhood, who delivered them for him. Anak T. Atwater married in June 1906 to Callie Bryant (born 1883) and following her death in 1927 he remarried to Ada A. Smith. Atwater would have at least one son, Horace, born in 1930.

Anak T. Atwater, from the "Sons of Allen", 1903.

  By 1919 the Rome Enterprise had a circulation of over 2,000 readers, and in addition to his newspaper Atwater made substantial inroads into other aspects of Rome, Georgia life, dabbling in insurance and real estate, and in 1910 held the post of census enumerator for the city's first and sixth wards. Remarked as one of Rome's leading black Republicans, Atwater served as the secretary of the Floyd County Republican Committee and in 1912 first served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention, supporting Theodore Roosevelt. Following his service at that convention, Atwater would be named as an alternate delegate from Georgia to five further Republican National Conventions, those being the 1916 and 1920 conventions in Chicago, 1924 (held in Cleveland), 1932 (held in Chicago) and 1948 (held in Philadelphia.)

  A longstanding member of the African Methodist Episcopal church, Anak Atwater was for many years a Sunday school superintendent and in 1904 and 1908 was a representative from the North Georgia Conference to the Methodist General Conferences in Chicago and Norfolk, Virginia. Anak T. Atwater died in Rome on December 22, 1949, aged 77 and was survived by his wife Ada, who died in Detroit in 1956. Both were interred at the Myrtle Hill Cemetery in that city.

Sinnickson Chew (1830-1901)

Portrait from Prowell's  History of Camden County, New Jersey, 1886.

    A leading name in New Jersey newspaper publishing during the 19th century, Sinnickson Chew was for nearly forty years the owner and publisher of the West Jersey Press, a weekly newspaper circulating in the city of Camden. During a long life dedicated to  "forcible editorials and fair treatment of both friend and foe", Chew also found fleeting involvement in state political affairs, being elected as clerk of the New Jersey State Assembly in 1872. His two-year tenure in that post is his lone instance of entering state political life but is enough to warrant his inclusion here.

   A lifelong New Jerseyean, Sinnickson Chew's birth occurred in Salem County on January 27, 1830, one of eight children born to Joseph Richards and Maria (Sinnickson) Chew. Receiving his unusual first name courtesy of his mother, Chew was a student in the "country schools" of Salem and at the age of just fifteen began learning the printing trade, joining the offices of the Woodbury Constitution in 1845. After becoming acquainted with the newspaper printer's daily activities, Chew became a "post-boy" for the paper, riding a horse and cart to deliver newspapers to various locations throughout Camden and Gloucester County.

  Following several years of work on the staff of the Constitution Chew removed to Philadelphia, where in 1851 he was briefly employed in a type foundry. In that same year he returned to New Jersey, and after his return joined the staff of the National Standard in Salem County. Within a short period Chew and a partner, William Sharp, pooled resources and together purchased the National Standard, continuing in a partnership publication until 1862. Sinnickson Chew married in May 1860 to Sarah A. Miller (1836-1918). The couple's forty-year marriage would see the births of at least three children, including Lillie, William H. (1871-1962), and Edward. 

   In May 1862 Chew purchased the "entire interest" of the Camden based West Jersey Press, and for the next four decades was its editor and publisher. Chew's lengthy stewardship of that paper saw it become one of the leading Republican-leaning periodicals in the state, with Chew himself being remarked as

"A clear and lucid writer with a perfect command of the English language, which he always used with telling effect."

  Although the publisher of one of the leading Republican voices in Camden, Sinnickson Chew refrained from pursuing public office. This was the case until 1872 when he was elected by the state assembly to serve as its clerk, a "responsible position" which saw him be acknowledged as "courteous and polite to all", regardless of a political party. Chew's time as clerk of the New Jersey state assembly extended until 1874 when he was succeeded by Austin H. Patterson, a former speaker of the assembly.
   A longtime member of the Editorial Association of New Jersey, Chew continued to be affiliated with the West Jersey Press until his death and two years prior had given up "active management" of the paper, with control passing to his sons. Sinnickson Chew died at his home in Camden on June 26, 1901, at age 71. He was survived by his wife Sarah, who, following her death in 1918 was interred alongside her husband at the Evergreen Cemetery in Camden.

From the December 10, 1900, Philadelphia Inquirer.

Cunard Jackson Broome (1923-1999)

From the 1957-58 Georgia Official and Statistical Register.

    A newspaper publisher and one-term representative in the Georgia state assembly, Cunard Jackson "C.J." Broome hailed from Alma, Georgia, a city that also produced two other oddly named political figures featured here, Braswell Drue Deen Sr. and his son, Judge Braswell D. Deen Jr. A lifelong Georgia resident, "C.J." Broome was born in Jeffersonville, Georgia on December 5, 1923, being the son of Carl Jackson (a newspaper owner and former mayor of Nahunta, Georgia) and Exie Lurline (Cunard) Broome. A student in schools local to Brantley County, Georgia, Broome graduated from the local high school in 1940 and in 1949 received his BCS degree from the University of Georgia. 

  While still in his teens Broome followed in his father's stead and entered into newspaper publishing, joining the staff of the Alma Times. By 1942 he had succeeded to the post of editor and at age 21 was serving as that paper's publisher. Cunard Broome married in Coweta County Georgia in December 1947 to Myrtle Inez Tanner (1912-2004). The couple was wed for over five decades and their union would see the births of two children, Lynda Sue (born 1949) and Lou Jena (born 1951).

    A well-known civic leader in Alma, C.J. Broome was a prominent figure in a number of civic groups prior to his election to the state assembly, serving as director of the Alma Board of Trade and president of the Georgia Press Association. Broome also held the presidency of the Alma Lions Club, the presidency of the Georgia Junior Chamber of Commerce's 8th district, and was a former director of the Housing Authority of the city of Alma. 

  Elected to the state assembly in November 1956, Cunard Broome succeeded Braswell Drue Deen Jr. as Bacon County's representative in the legislature. Shortly before the expiration of his term Broome entered the Democratic primary race for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia, and in September 1958 placed third in a field of five candidates, garnering 49, 686 votes. Following his term, Broome retired from the newspaper business and operated the Great Earth Properties real estate agency, as well as serving as chairman of a "multi-county Transportation task force working to improve road rail and port infrastructure in southeast Georgia." 

   Cunard Jackson Broome died at age 76 on October 20, 1999. He was survived by his wife Myrtle, who, following her passing in 2004 was interred alongside him at the Oakland Cemetery in Waycross, Georgia.

Howkin Bulkeley Beardslee (1820-1886)

Portrait courtesy of the Legislative Reference Library of Pennsylvania.

   Acknowledged as one of 19th century Pennsylvania's prominent public men, Howkin Bulkeley Beardslee was a newspaperman by trade, being the owner and editor of both the Wayne County Herald and the Luzerne County Herald. Active in politics in addition to newspaper work, Beardslee served in both houses of the Pennsylvania legislature and was even talked of as a candidate for Congress in the early 1870s.

   A lifelong Pennsylvania resident, Howkin B. Beardslee was the son of Bulkeley and Lucretia (Kimble) Beardslee, being born in Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania on May 28, 1820. Recorded as receiving a "rural school education", Beardslee began reading law in the office of local attorney Charles Robinson and was admitted to the bar in 1844. Howkin Beardslee married in November 1846 to Charlotte Clark (1826-1909), with whom he would have several children: Clark (born 1847), Frank, John (born 1849), Charlotte Dollie (1852-1880), Minerva (born 1854), George Washington (born 1858), Clark, Jane (1854-1936) and Mary (1854-1923).

   Within a year of being admitted to the bar, Beardslee won election as Register and Recorder of Wayne County, taking office at the ripe old age of 23. He would hold that post from 1845-48 and during his term made his first venture into the publishing world, purchasing the Wayne County Herald in 1847. Beardslee and his partner J.H. Norton ran the Herald as a partnership until 1849, whereafter Beardslee purchased Norton's interest and continued on as both owner and editor until 1861 when he sold off his interest to assistant editors Thomas Ham and Charles Menner. Before this sale, Beardslee had been elected as Wayne County's representative to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1859 and served during the legislative session of 1860-61. 

   Howkin Beardslee would continue his political rise in 1862 when he was elected to the Pennsylvania Senate from the 10th senatorial district. He would serve one four-year term (1863-67) and held seats on the committees on Compare Bills, Estates and Escheats, Private Claims and Damages. Regarded as a "political power' in Wayne County due to his newspaper stewardship and assembly service, Beardslee was:

"Entitled fairly to all of the influence and esteem he gathered up. The elements of his power were not obscure. True, he was not an orator. There was no charm of manner or brilliancy of rhetoric in his speeches. He was not an elegant writer. What he accomplished was in virtue of his character, which eminently fitted him to guide and control."

   A staunch Democrat, Beardslee served for many years as a member of the Wayne County Democratic Committee and twice was considered as a candidate for Congress from his district, but failed "to secure the conference ratification." In 1869 he briefly served as District Attorney of Wayne County due to the resignation of William H. Dimick. 
   Having resumed his newspaper interests, Howkin Beardslee resettled in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in 1871 to take on the post of editor of the Luzerne Union. He later became the sole owner of this paper and remained affiliated with it until about 1882, when he established the Luzerne County Herald. In January 1886 health concerns forced him to relinquish control of that paper and in the following month, he moved back to his "old home" in Indian Orchard, Pennsylvania, where he died on March 11, 1886, at age 65. Beardslee was survived by his wife Charlotte and was interred at the Indian Orchard Cemetery.

Beardslee's death notice from the Port Jervis Evening Gazette, March 19, 1886.

Tallien Morley Clock (1857-1928)

Portrait courtesy of the "Klock Connections" Family Newsletter, February 2005.

   Erie County, Ohio native Tallien Morley Clock's public life bears a slight similarity to that of Finney Reform Loomis, who was profiled here back on October 12. Both were lifelong Ohioans and both were prominent newspaper publishers in their respective counties. Both also had fleeting involvement in politics. For nearly half a century Mr. Clock was one of Erie County, Ohio's noted newspapermen, being connected with the Erie County Reporter as its editor and publisher. In addition to success in the publishing industry Clock also made strides in the political life of his native city of Huron, Ohio, where he served as mayor for a total of fourteen years. 

   Born in Monroeville, Ohio on October 4, 1857, Tallien M. Clock was the son of David and Emma Bishop Clock, respective natives of Erie County, Ohio and Chautauqua County, New York. His unusual first name has variations in spelling, being given as "Taliem", "Talien" and "Tallien", the last spelling being featured in his biography published in 1916's two-volume "Standard History of Erie County, Ohio." 

   Clock would attend the public schools of Monroeville and in the early 1880s began to learn the printing trade, eventually moving to Chicago in 1882 to begin work as a "compositor" on the staff of the Chicago Times newspaper. He remained here for two years, returning to Erie County in 1884 to assist his father (the founder of the Erie County Reporter) in the day-to-day running of that paper. Tallien Clock married sometime in the early 1880s to Elsie Pierce (born 1864) and later had one daughter, Marian Grace (1883-1971).

   Following the death of his father David in 1905, Clock "assumed individual control and ownership" of the Erie County Reporter, and his lengthy stewardship of that paper saw him become "known far and wide as a fearless and able publisher. Some of his special articles were copied by metropolitan newspapers and were highly praised." 

  In addition to his newspaper work, Clock served Huron, Ohio in a number of different political capacities, including stints as clerk of the town board of education and President of the village council. He also served as a delegate to various Republican county and state conventions. In 1904 he succeeded William C. Heymann as Mayor of Huron, Ohio, and served six years in that office. Clock would be returned to the mayor's office after these terms, eventually serving a total of fourteen years as Huron's mayor. Tallien M. Clock died in Huron on November 3, 1928, at age 71. He was survived by his wife Elsie and daughter Marian and was subsequently interred at the Riverside Cemetery in Monroeville, Ohio.

Suggett Louis Edwards (1906-1944)

From the Official Manual of Missouri, 1939-1940.

   A distinguished citizen in Audrain County, Missouri, Suggett Louis Edwards accomplished much in his short life of 38 years, including involvement in newspaper publishing, being a Democratic club man, and serving two terms as a representative in the Missouri General Assembly. Edwards, like so many other young men of the time, volunteered for military service during WWII, and, like a great many of those soldiers, did not live to see the conclusion of the war, losing his life in a B-29 crash in the Northern Mariana Islands in December 1944. Although few details exist online in regards to Edwards' life, a small biographical snippet in the 1937-38 and 1939-40 Missouri State Manual aided in constructing the following summation of the life of this heroic Missouri political figure.

  Although a resident of Audrain County, Missouri for a good majority of his life, Suggett Louis Edwards was born in Callaway County in that state on July 23, 1906, one of six children born to Isham (name also spelled Isom) Lewis (1874-1947) and Janette Edwards. His education took place in public schools and he later attended the Missouri Valley College in the city of Marshall and the Washington University located in St. Louis. Edwards later removed to Mexico, Missouri to begin work in the publishing field, and is remarked as "being connected with the Globe-Democrat in St. Louis", as well as holding "various newspaper and publication positions." 

   Suggett L. Edwards first became politically active in 1934, when in that year he became a prime mover in the establishment of the Young Democrats Club of Audrain County. He served as the first chairman of this organization and in 1936 continued to rise amongst the ranks of the party when he was elected to the Missouri State House of Representatives, defeating Republican nominee John W. Ellis by a vote of 7, 309 to 2, 542. His first term in the assembly saw Edwards sit on the house committees on Appropriations, Federal Relations, Fish and Game, Penitentiary and Reform Schools, Purchasing Supplies, and the committee on the University of Missouri. In 1937 Edwards was selected by then Missouri Governor Lloyd Stark to sit on a special house committee that made "a study of Social Security legislation."

                                                  From the 1937-38 Official Manual of the State of Missouri.

    In November 1938 Suggett Edwards won his reelection bid for the assembly, soundly defeating Republican nominee John W. Ellis for a second time, winning by a vote of 3, 197 to 951. During his second term in the legislature, Edwards served as chairman of the House Committee on Probation and Parole, whilst also being a member of the committees on Appropriations, the Judiciary, Revisions, Municipal Corporations, Private Corporations, and the Committee on Justice of the Peace and County Courts. 

    Edwards' second term concluded in 1941 and in the following year signed on for military service, eventually becoming a Sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Forces. He is recorded as being a member of the "878th Bomber Squadron, 499th Bomber group", noted for being active in the Pacific Theater of Operations in late 1944. The 499th Bombardment Group was made up of the gigantic B-29 Superfortress heavy bomber, one of the largest planes ever to be manufactured for use during WWII. Suggett Edwards's service in this group is quite sketchy, as little information could be found detailing his war service. What is known is that he lost his life in the crash of a B-29 bomber near Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands on December 13, 1944. Originally listed as "missing in action", the Moberly Monitor reported in its January 10, 1945 edition that Edwards had been killed in action in the December 13th crash, and gave no other details as to the plane's mission or how many other crewmen lost their lives when the plane went down. Edwards himself was survived by his mother and five siblings and is recorded as never having married. 

   In May 1946 Suggett Edwards was honored in a special memorial service in the Missouri House of Representatives. The Moberly Monitor, which reported on the event, noted in its May 23rd edition that Edwards "was believed to be the only member of Missouri's house ever to have died while in active military service."

From the Moberly Monitor, January 10, 1945.

From the Moberly Monitor, May 23, 1946.

Lotus Ingalls (1818-1897), Lotus Lee Langley (1875-1955)

   Today's profile will be a very memorable one, as the Strangest Names In American Political History recently visited the mammoth Brookside Cemetery in Watertown, New York! As I just returned from vacationing in the Jefferson & Ontario County, New York area, the next few profiles here on the site will center on several oddly named political figures who called these two counties home. The first of these men to be profiled is Lotus Ingalls, a 19th-century Watertown resident who distinguished himself in the fields of both journalism and politics. I visited Mr. Ingalls's gravesite at the Brookside Cemetery in Watertown early yesterday, and some photos from that excursion will conclude his profile here. 
   Lotus Ingalls was born on January 12, 1818, in Rodman, New York, one of ten children born to James (1791-1881) and Laura Cooley Ingalls (1795-1837). Lotus is recorded as engaging in farm work during his youth and in 1839 enrolled in the Black River Institute. While attending this institution, Ingalls began earning extra money by teaching school in the towns of Wilna and Perch Lake, and later taught at the Factory Street School in Watertown.
   In 1845 Ingalls began pursuing law studies, entering the law office of Lansing and Sherman. He passed the New York State Bar exam in the late 1840s and during this time was also elected to a two-year term as town school superintendent.  In 1847 he married Watertown native Marinda Emily Murray (1826-1904) and they became the parents of one child, Alice Elvira Ingalls (1848-1932).
   Ingalls's career in law was short-lived, and it is noted by The Growth of a Century that "the demands of that profession seemed hardly suited to his tastes." It was around this time that the Watertown Democratic Union (an anti-temperance or "liquor interest" newspaper) was established, and as a counterpoint to this paper, many temperance advocates in Jefferson County suggested the start of a paper devoted to their interests, and Mr. Ingalls was "suggested and urged to become its editor." 
  Using some small start-up capital, Ingalls founded the Watertown Daily Reformer, and with the help of an established Watertown printer (L.C. Stowell, who later became Ingalls's partner) the Reformer was viewed as an unqualified success, with the Growth of a Century remarking that it was "full of snap and ability" and that it appealed "to the better class of readers, who had become weary with editors that looked at all questions through the colored spectacles of party policy." Ingalls and his paper are also listed as being instrumental in espousing opinions on then-current New York assessment laws, and it was because of the work of Ingalls and the Reformer that the New York legislature eventually created the Board of State Assessors.

                                  This article on Lotus Ingalls appeared in the New York Times.
  
  The Daily Reformer's circulation continued to grow throughout the 1850s and 60s, and with it, Lotus Ingalls's reputation as one of Jefferson County's most prominent men of affairs. During the 1860s he became connected with the Carthage, Watertown, and Sacketts Harbor Railroad Company, eventually serving as its Secretary and Treasurer during the early 1870s. An annual railroad report bearing Ingalls's name was published in 1872 and has been posted below.

   In 1875 Ingalls launched a campaign for the New York State Assembly and won election to that body in November of that year (representing Jefferson County.) Taking his seat in 1876, Ingalls served on the committees on Public Printing,  State Prisons, and Enrolled Bills during his one term in the legislature. The Growth of a Century highlights his service as Chairman of the Printing Committee, stating that Ingalls "saved the state many thousands of dollars by applying the pruning knife to the extravagant requests of members and others." It is also mentioned that Ingalls "had very important economic reforms in his mind" after entering the assembly but was unable to implement them due to the political partisanship of the time.

                             Another portrait of Lotus Ingalls, probably from the 1870s or 80s.

   An interesting point is made by the Growth of the Century as to Ingalls's later years as a publisher. During the late 1860s/early 1870s, he ran into financial problems and declared bankruptcy, and was "even forced out of the newspaper which he had established and raised to an institution of great value." Ingalls eventually rebounded financially and in the mid-1870s purchased the Watertown Post, which he ran successfully until selling it eighteen years later. Soon afterward he retired from public life, having been engaged as an editor and publisher for over forty years! His retirement from publishing was marked as the end of an era, as "he had been for 42 years one of Jefferson's most strenuous and powerful men, and has wrought his individual life into the very fibre of that county's history as no other editor has done. His example is an illustrious one, and a good one to follow."

   After a long career in public service, Lotus Ingalls died at age 79 on April 24, 1897, in Watertown. Judging by the number of archived newspaper sources mentioning his death, his demise was front-page news in several New York newspapers, including the New York Herald, the Rome Citizen (shown below), and the Ithaca Daily News. Ingalls was survived by his wife of fifty years, Marinda (who died in 1904), and his daughter Alice, who died at age 84 in 1932. 

                                                      From the Rome Citizen, April 27, 1897.

     Another Lotus Ingalls obituary, originally published in an April 1897 edition of the Syracuse Herald.

   As mentioned in the opening of Mr. Ingalls's profile here, I was lucky enough to be on vacation near Watertown this past week and yesterday (August 15, 2012), I made it a point to visit the Brookside Cemetery in that city to seek out his gravesite, as well as those of Gilderoy Lord (a Watertown Mayor), Pardon Clarence Williams (a former New York State Supreme Court justice) and Gotham Ives (a New York State Assemblyman). All of these odd-named public figures are buried in Brookside, as are several other politicians, including Roswell Pettibone Flower (a former New York Governor) and Willard Ives (a U.S. Representative.) 

  Describing Brookside Cemetery as "big" doesn't even begin to cover the sheer size of its confines. This mammoth cemetery is the final resting place of over 14,000 people, and I was lucky enough to have one of Brookside's office personnel give me a marked map denoting the location of each of the aforementioned people. And now some photos from the trip!

  Lotus Ingalls is interred in the Ingalls-Murray plot in section M of the Brookside Cemetery. The large granite stone marking his gravesite has both the Ingalls and Murray surnames inscribed on its sides (as Lotus's wife Marinda's maiden name was Murray) and in front of this stone are smaller headstones denoting each family member's name and their dates of birth and death.

                                                             Lotus Ingalls's headstone.

                                                       Another view of Ingalls's headstone.

                               With the SNIAPH Book at the Ingalls gravesite, August 15, 2012.

  All in all, Lotus Ingalls's impressive stone certainly befits a man who devoted the majority of his life to public affairs in his native Watertown. Sadly no plaque or marker denotes Ingalls's status as a prominent 19th century Watertown citizen or his service in the state assembly. In addition to his already lengthy article here, I also recently created a Find-a-Grave profile for him, which can be viewed at the following link.

From the Oregon Voter's Pamphlet, 1918.

 Another "Lotus" that made his name known in public service is Lotus Lee Langley, a longtime resident of Multnomah County, Oregon. Born in Scranton, Iowa on September 15, 1875, Langley was the son of William and Amanda Scott Langley. Lotus moved to Oregon with his family in 1891 to attend the Pacific University in the town of Forest Grove. He studied law under the tutelage of his father and was admitted to practice by the Oregon bar in 1897.

  Langley relocated to Portland to practice law in 1901 and married in December 1908 to Eva Allen, later having two children. After a decade or so of practice in Portland, Langley entered into political life in 1918, becoming the Democratic candidate for circuit court judge for Oregon's 4th district. His candidacy was unsuccessful, being defeated that November by Calvin U. Gantenbein.  Langley continued to be active in Democratic political circles for the remainder of his life, serving as the chairman of the Multnomah County Democratic Party in 1928 and in that same year was an unsuccessful candidate for Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court.

   In 1931 Langley's political fortunes changed when he was elected as District Attorney of Multnomah County, serving a term of four years. During the 1940 election year, he served as part of Oregon's delegation to the Democratic National Convention being held in Chicago that renominated Franklin Roosevelt for a third term. Lotus Langley died on February 6, 1955, at age 79 and was later interred at the Forest View Cemetery in  Forest Grove, Washington County, Oregon.