Silas Woodson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Silas Woodson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 21st Governor of Missouri | |
| In office January 3, 1873 – January 12, 1875 | |
| Lieutenant | Charles Phillip Johnson |
| Preceded by | B. Gratz Brown |
| Succeeded by | Charles Henry Hardin |
| Chief Justice of the Idaho Territorial Supreme Court | |
| In office July 28, 1864 – January 1865 | |
| Appointed by | Abraham Lincoln |
| Preceded by | Sidney Edgerton |
| Succeeded by | John R. McBride |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 18, 1819 |
| Died | October 9, 1896 (aged 77) |
| Party | Democratic |
| Signature |  |
Silas Woodson (May 18, 1819 – October 9, 1896) was the 21st Governor of Missouri between January 3, 1873, and January 12, 1875. He was notable for being the first Democrat elected to that position since the Civil War. No Republican would reach the office for over 30 years after Woodson's election.[1]
Woodson was born in Barbourville, Kentucky, to mother Alice (Chick), and father Wade Netherland Woodson
He was the most outspoken opponent of slavery at Kentucky's 1849 constitutional convention and left the state after the passage of the 1850 constitution enshrined it in state law.[2]
Legal career
Woodson became a lawyer. In 1846 he became partners with Samuel Freeman Miller.[3] Woodson gained a reputation as a trial lawyer.[4] On June 20, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln nominated Woodson as Chief Justice of the Idaho Territorial Supreme Court. The senate judiciary committee reported Woodson's nomination adversely, and the senate laid his nomination on the table on June 30.[5] After congress adjourned, Lincoln gave Woodson a recess appointment to the position on July 28, 1864.[6] He resigned his commission in January 1865, without having set foot in the Idaho Territory.[7]
