David B. Hill
David Bennett Hill | |
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United States Senator from New York | |
In office January 7, 1892 – March 4, 1897 | |
Preceded by | William M. Evarts |
Succeeded by | Thomas C. Platt |
29th Governor of New York | |
In office January 6, 1885 – December 31, 1891 | |
Lieutenant | Dennis McCarthy (acting) Edward F. Jones |
Preceded by | Grover Cleveland |
Succeeded by | Roswell P. Flower |
29th Lieutenant Governor of New York | |
In office January 1, 1883 – January 6, 1885 | |
Governor | Grover Cleveland |
Preceded by | George Gilbert Hoskins |
Succeeded by | Dennis McCarthy (acting) |
Personal details | |
Born | Havana, New York | August 29, 1843
Died | October 20, 1910 67) Albany, New York | (aged
Political party | Democratic |
Profession | Lawyer |
David Bennett Hill (August 29, 1843 – October 20, 1910) was an American politician from New York who was the 29th Governor of New York from 1885 to 1891.
Life
David B. Hill was born in Havana, New York on August 29, 1843. He was educated locally, studied law, and began a practice in Elmira in 1864. In 1864 was he was named Elmira's City Attorney. He was a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly (Chemung County) in 1871 and 1872. Hill was elected an alderman of Elmira in 1880, served as Mayor of Elmira in 1882, and was President of the New York State Bar Association from 1886 to 1887. Hill was Lieutenant Governor from 1883 to 1885, elected in 1882 on the ticket with Governor Grover Cleveland. He was Governor from 1885 to 1891, succeeding to the office upon Cleveland's resignation and re-elected in 1885 and 1888.
On May 15, 1885, Hill signed "a bill establishing a 'Forest Preserve' of 715,000 acres that was to remain permanently 'as wild forest lands.'"[1] This tract soon became the Adirondack Park.
During his tenure as Governor, William Kemmler was executed in the electric chair, the first inmate in the country ever to be put to death in this manner. On April 23, 1889 Hill vetoed a bill from the state legislature that would block the street construction at the Polo Grounds. He also vetoed two times (1888 and 1889) a ballot reform bill by the Republican legislature to stop the rife election fraud in New York.[2]
He was a U.S. Senator from New York from 1892 to 1897. He was elected in February 1891, but took his seat only after the end of his term as governor in January 1892. He was also a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President in 1892, but lost to Grover Cleveland, who later won the presidential election. He was defeated by Republican Levi P. Morton when, as a sitting U.S senator, he ran again for Governor in November 1894. While Senator in 1893 and 1894 he blocked President Cleveland's two appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court: William B. Hornblower and Wheeler H. Peckham who had opposed Hill's political machine.
Hill died at Wolfert's Roost, his country home near Albany on October 20, 1910 from the effects of Bright's Disease and heart disease. He was buried in Montour Cemetery in Mountour Falls.
References
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to David B. Hill. |
- A Jeffersonian Governor: David Bennett Hill
- David B. Hill at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by George Gilbert Hoskins |
Lieutenant Governor of New York 1883–1885 |
Succeeded by Dennis McCarthy Acting |
Preceded by Grover Cleveland |
Governor of New York 1885–1891 |
Succeeded by Roswell P. Flower |
United States Senate | ||
Preceded by William M. Evarts |
U.S. Senator (Class 3) from New York 1892–1897 Served alongside: Frank Hiscock, Edward Murphy, Jr. |
Succeeded by Thomas C. Platt |
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