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Historical records matching Sen. Francis Griffith Newlands
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About Sen. Francis Griffith Newlands
Francis Griffith Newlands, (son-in-law of William Sharon), a Representative and a Senator from Nevada; born in Natchez, Adams County, Miss., August 28, 1846; moved to Missouri and later Illinois with his parents, who settled in Quincy, Illinois; privately tutored; as a young adult moved to Washington, D.C. with widowed mother; attended Yale College and the Columbian College Law School (now George Washington University), Washington, D.C.; admitted to the bar in 1869; moved to San Francisco in 1870 and practiced law; moved to Nevada in 1888 and continued the practice of law; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-third and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1893-March 3, 1903); did not seek renomination in 1902, having become a candidate for Senator; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1902; reelected in 1908 and again in 1914 and served from March 4, 1903, until his death; chairman, Committee on Corporations Organized in the District of Columbia (Sixty-second Congress), Committee on Revolutionary Claims (Sixty-second Congress), Committee on Interstate Commerce (Sixty-third through Sixty-fifth Congresses); died in Washington, D.C., December 24, 1917; interment in Oak Hill Cemetery.
Francis Griffith Newlands
(August 28, 1848 – December 24, 1917)
was a United States Representative and Senator from Nevada.
Contents
* 1 Early life
* 2 Career in the West
* 3 Representative
* 4 Senator
* 5 Legacy
* 6 References
Early life
Newlands was born in Natchez, Adams County, Mississippi, on August 28, 1848, the son of James Birney Newlands (Scotland – Quincy, Adams County, Illinois, 1851) and wife Jessie Barland (Scotland – living in 1867), who married secondly Ebenezer Moore, Mayor of Quincy, Adams County, Illinois, who died in October, 1866.
He studied at Yale University and the Columbian College Law School (now the George Washington University Law School), Washington, D.C. and was admitted to the bar in 1869.
Career in the West
Francis G. moved to San Francisco, California in 1870 and came to work for William Sharon, one of the discoverers of the Comstock Lode in Virginia City, Storey County, Nevada, who later also became Newlands's father-in-law, through the marriage in San Francisco, California, on November 19, 1874 to his daughter Clara Adelaide Sharon (San Francisco, California, 1854 – San Francisco, California, February 17, 1882). Their daughter Frances Newlands (San Francisco, California, November 21, 1880 – Berlin, August 21, 1907) married in Washington, D.C., May 6, 1905 Leopold Waldemar von Bredow (Bredow bei Nauen, October 31, 1875 – Lausanne, October 1, 1933), and they were the maternal grandparents of Chris Strachwitz.[1]
In 1888 he moved to Nevada to serve Sharon's interests and continued to practice Law.
In the late 1880s, Newlands and his partners began the aggressive acquisition of farmland in northwestern Washington, D.C. and southern Montgomery County, Maryland, for the purpose of developing a residential streetcar suburb for Washington, D.C.. (See Washington streetcars.) They founded the Chevy Chase Land Company in 1890, and its eventual holdings are now known as Chevy Chase, Washington, D.C. and Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Representative
He served as a Democratic Representative for Nevada between 1893 and 1903.
While a congressman, he wrote the Newlands Resolution, which was an act of the United States Congress to annex the Republic of Hawai'i and create the Territory of Hawai'i.
It was approved on July 4, 1898 and signed on July 7 by President of the United States William McKinley. Newlands became well known for his support of irrigation, land reclamation as well as free silver. Newlands is most famous for the 1902 Newlands Reclamation Act, which funded irrigation projects throughout much of the American West.
Senator
Later he became a Democratic United States Senator for Nevada in 1903 and served until his death at Washington, D.C. on December 24, 1917.
Legacy
Newlands's former mansion in Reno would later become a local landmark. Many famous people, such as Barbara Hutton in 1935, stayed at the house while awaiting their divorce paperwork to be finalized by George Thatcher, a local lawyer who had purchased the building.
References
* Francis G. Newlands at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
* NPS: Newlands
1. ^ http://www.wargs.com/noble/strachwitz.html Ancestry of Chris Strachwitz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_G._Newlands
Francis Griffith Newlands (August 28, 1846 – December 24, 1917) was a United States Representative and Senator from Nevada.
Early life
Newlands was born in New York City, New York, on February 26, 1846. He studied at Yale University and the Columbian College Law School (now the George Washington University Law School), and was admitted to the bar in 1869.
Career in the West
Newlands moved to San Francisco, California in 1870 and came to work for William Sharon, one of the discoverers of the Comstock Lode in Virginia City, Nevada. Newlands later married Sharon's daughter Clara Adelaide Sharon. She died in 1882, eight years after they married. In 1888 he moved to Nevada to serve Sharon's interests, and continued to practice law.
In the late 1880s, Newlands and his partners began the aggressive acquisition of farmland in northwestern Washington, D.C. and southern Montgomery County, Maryland, for the purpose of developing a residential streetcar suburb for Washington, D.C.. (See Washington streetcars.) They founded the Chevy Chase Land Company in 1890, and its eventual holdings are now known as Chevy Chase, Washington, D.C. and Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Representative
He served as a Democratic Representative for Nevada between 1893 and 1903. During his service, he wrote the Newlands Resolution, an act to annex the Republic of Hawai'i and create the Territory of Hawai'i. It was approved on July 4, 1898 and signed by President William McKinley. Newlands became well known for his support of irrigation, land reclamation, and free silver. Newlands is most famous for the 1902 Newlands Reclamation Act, which funded irrigation projects throughout much of the American West.
Senator
He became a Senator for Nevada in 1903 and served until his death in Washington, D.C., on December 24, 1917. He was a member of the Senate subcommittee which investigated the 1912 sinking of RMS Titanic, and in 1916 he was the only Democratic Senator to vote against the nomination of Louis Brandeis to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Legacy
Newlands was an "avowed racist" who in 1912 mounted his presidential campaign on a platform that called for a constitutional amendment to disenfranchise black men and limit immigration to whites only. Like many suburban towns in the United States during the first half of the 20th century, Chevy Chase - the suburb that he co-founded - excluded individuals based on race and religion. Francis Griffith Newlands Memorial Fountain is named for him.
Newlands's former mansion in Reno is one of six properties in Nevada designated as a National Historic Landmark. Many notable people, including Barbara Hutton in 1935, stayed at the house while awaiting their divorce paperwork to be finalized by George Thatcher, a local divorce lawyer who purchased the home in 1920.
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Sen. Francis Griffith Newlands's Timeline
| 1846 |
August 28, 1846
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Natchez, Adams County, MS, United States
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| 1876 |
1876
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| 1878 |
1878
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| 1880 |
November 21, 1880
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San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA, United States
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| 1917 |
December 24, 1917
Age 71
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Washington, District of Columbia, DC, United States
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| ???? |
Rock Creek, Washington, District of Columbia, United States
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