Samuel D. McEnery: Difference between revisions

 

'''Samuel Douglas McEnery''' (May 28, 1837 – June 28, 1910) served as the [[List of Governors of Louisiana|30th Governor]] of the [[U.S. state]] of [[Louisiana]], with service from 1881 until 1888. He was subsequently a [[United States Senate|U.S. senator]] from 1897 until 1910. He was the brother of [[John McEnery (Louisiana)|John McEnery]], one of the candidates in the contested [[Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1872|1872 election]] for governor.

 

McEnery was born in [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]] in [[Ouachita Parish, Louisiana|Ouachita Parish]] in [[North Louisiana]]. He attended [[Spring Hill College]] in [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]], [[Alabama]], the [[United States Naval Academy]] in [[Annapolis]], [[Maryland]], and the [[University of Virginia]] at [[Charlottesville]], [[Virginia (U.S. state)|Virginia]]. In 1859, McEnery graduated from the [[State and National Law School]] in [[Poughkeepsie (city), New York|Poughkeepsie]], [[New York (state)|New York]]. McEnery served as a [[lieutenant]] in the [[Confederate States Army]] during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].

 

In 1866, McEnery began practicing law in Monroe. He became active in the Democratic Party, and served as its chairman in [[Ouachita Parish, Louisiana|Ouachita Parish]]. He was elected [[Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana|lieutenant governor]] in 1879, and became [[Governor]] of Louisiana in 1881 after the death of [[Louis A. Wiltz]]. McEnery was elected to a full term as governor in 1884, but failed to be re-elected in 1888. McEnery's administration was weak because of the power wielded by the State Treasurer [[Edward A. Burke]] and the [[Public corruption|corrupt]] [[Louisiana State Lottery Company]]. Despite Louisiana's [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholic]] [[Plurality (voting)|plurality]] (and majority in [[Acadiana]] and many of the southern parishes of the state), McEnery was the last Catholic to be elected governor prior to [[Edwin Edwards]] in 1972.<ref>After Edwin Edwards, Catholics [[Kathleen Babineaux Blanco]], [[Bobby Jindal]], and [[John Bel Edwards]] were elected governors.</ref>

 

After losing the 1888 election, McEnery was appointed to serve as an associate justice in the Louisiana Supreme Court. He was elected to serve in the [[United States Senate]] in 1896, serving there until his death in 1910. While in the Senate, McEnery served on the Committee of Corporations formed in the District of Columbia and the Committee of Transportation and Sale of Meat Products.<ref>For McEnery's positions on the [[Pure Food and Drug Act]] of 1906, see Robert Harrison, ''Congress, Progressive Reform, and the New American State'' (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp. 77, 235, 253. {{ISBN|978-0-521-82789-8}}, {{ISBN|0-521-82789-2}}.</ref>

 

McEnery died on June 28, 1910, in [[New Orleans]] and was interred there at [[Metairie Cemetery]].<ref>See the Louisiana Secretary of State's "[http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/387/Default.aspx Samuel Douglas McEnery"] site for McEnery's religious affiliation, date of death, and other information.</ref>