Governors of Dakota Territory Compiled by George Norby 109 7th St. Brookings, SD 57006-1410 e-mail - joseph@brookings.net William A. Jayne Newton Edmunds Andrew Jackson Faulk John A.Burbank John L. Pennington William A. Howard Nehemiah G. Ordway Gilbert A. Pierce Louis K. Church Arthur C. Mellette WILLIAM A. JAYNE First Territorial Governor 1861 - 1863 William A. Jayne was a medical doctor in Springfield, Illinois and served as President Lincoln's physician. He graduated from the University of Illinois and the Missouri Medical School. From 1859 to 1861 he served as mayor of Springfield and also served as mayor from 1865 to 1880. In 1860 he was a member of the State Senate of Illinois and resigned in 1861. He was sworn in as Governor of Dakota Territory in Washington on March 28, 1861. Jayne arrived in Yankton, Dakota Territory to be the Governor of the Territory on May 27, 1861. He designated Yankton, which is now Yankton, South Dakota as the first Territorial Capital. 1863 and 1864 he was a United States House of Representative from Illinois. He was a member of the Republican Party. He was born at Springfield, Illinois on October 6, 1826 and died in Springfield, March 20, 1916. NEWTON EDMUNDS Second Territorial Governor 1863 - 1866 In 1832 Newton Edmunds with his family moved to Michigan from New York where he grew up. In 1861 he came to Yankton and became chief clerk in the surveyors general's office. On October 17, 1963 Edmunds was notified that he was appointed Territorial Governor by President Lincoln. On November 2, 1863 he took the oath of office. In 1865 and 1866 he negotiated treaties with the Sioux and other tribes along th Missouri River. As Territoral Governor he also served as Superintendent of the Indian affairs for the Dakota Territory. On August 8, 1966 upon returning from a peace mission he was replaced as Governor of Dakota Territory by President Andrew Jackson. Newton Edmunds continued to live in Yankton. He helped organize the first church, active in building the first school and helped in establishing of an academy. In 1869 he organized a banking firm. Edmunds was a member of the Territorial Council in 1879. Newton Edmunds was born at Hartland, New York on May 31, 1819 and died at Yankton, South Dakota on February 13, 1908. ANDREW JACKSON FAULK Third Territorial Governor 1866 - 1869 Faulk trained as a newspaper man, studied law and was a leader in Democratic politics. He broke with the Democratic Party over the slave question and changed to the Republican Party. On September 5, 1866 he took the oath as Governor of the Dakota Territory. He promoted the Euro-American settlement of the Dakota Territory and that Indian owned land in the Black Hills should be opened to Euro American settlers. After his term as governor he was appointed clerk of the District Court of Dakota Territory and also was appointed trustee of the Dakota Asylum for the Insane. He was born at Milford, Pike County, Pennsylvania, November 26, 1814 and died at Yankton, South Dakota September 5, 1898. JOHN A. BURBANK Fourth Territorial Governor 1869 - 1873 John A. Burbank was inaugurated on May 10, 1869. He was not a popular governor of Dakota Territory because he was out of the Territory for periods of times. During his adminstration more Euro America settlers began moving into the Dakota Territory and forced the Native Americans on to reservations. During Burbank's term as Territorial Governor the Dakota Southern railroad between Sioux City and Yankton began regular passenger service which was established February 3, 1873 and the Northern Pacific Railroad entered the Territory at Fargo and the tracks reached Bismark by 1873. John A. Burbank was born at Centerville, Wayne County, Indiana, July 23, 1827 and died at Richmond, Indiana December 19, 1905. JOHN L. PENNINGTON Fifth Territorial Governor 1874 - 1878 John L. Pennington became Governor of the Dakota Territory on January 1st 1874. He was an Alabama State Senator from 1868 to 1873. The discovery of gold in -the Black Hills of Dakota Territory was one of the events in his governorship. The Black Hills was suppose to be off limits to Euro Americans because it was sacred ground to the Sioux. After the news of gold being found in the Black Hills many settlers came to the area disregarding the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 that promised the Black Hills to the Sioux. In 1874-75-76 there was a severe grasshopper infestation in the Dakota Territory that ruined the crops in those years. Governor Pennington did not believe that the grasshopper problem was as bad as it was and would not give financial aid. President Hayes denied Pennington's reappointment as Governor of the Dakota Territory. After not being reapointed as Governor of Dakota Territory he became collector of Internal Revenue of Dakota Territory. He then started a Weekly newspaper at Yankton in 1885. In 1891 he moved to North Anniston, Alabama and established himself in the newspaper business. Governor John L. Pennington was born at New Berne, Wake County, North Carolina in 1821. He died in Anniston, Alabama, on July 11, 1900. WILLIAM A. HOWARD Sixth Territoral Governor 1878 - 1880 William Alanson Howard took the oath of office as Dakota Territory Governor on April 13, 1878. Howard attended school at Albion, New York and trained as a cabinet maker. He graduated from the Middlebury Academy in Vermont and taught for one year. He was admitted to the bar in Michigan in 1842 and practiced law at Detroit for twelve years. He was elected to Congress in 1856 and served until 1863. He was a ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee. He served in United States House of Representatives from Michigan from 1854 to 1862. In 1870 he was appointed minister to China, but did not accept because of poor health. He was born at Hinesberg, Vermont, April 18, 1812 and died at Washington D.C. on April 10, 1880. He was the first Territorial Governor to die while in office. NEHEMIAH G. ORDWAY Seventh Territorial Govenor 1880 - 1884 Ordway was confirmed as the seventh Governor of Dakota Territory on June 1, 1880. Ordway with his wife and son arrived in Yankton, Dakota Territory on June 23, 1880. He was born in Warner, New Hampshire on November 10, 1828 and died at Boston, Massachusetts, July 3, 1907. During Governor Ordway's term of office there was a large growth in railroads, counties, towns and population. From 1879 to 1884 with the rush of settlers to the Dakota Territory the population doubled. During Ordway's term as the Governor of the Territory, the Territorial Capital was moved from Yankton to Bismark. Ordway was Sergeant of Arms, United States House of Representatives in 1863, 1865, 1869 and 1871. 1875 to 1880 he served several times in the New Hampshire Legislature. He was removed from office by President Chester A. Arthur in 1884. He was indited for corrupt practices while in office. President Arthur appointed Gilbert A. Pierce of Chicago as the next Governor of the Dakota Territory. Nehemiah G. Ordway was born at Warner, New Hampshire on November 10, 1828. He died in New Hampshire in 1909. GILBERT A. PIERCE Eighth Territorial Governor 1884 - 1886 He was Inaugurated on July 25, 1884 as Governor of Dakota Territoy at Yankton. He then traveled to Bismarck. The Territorial offices occupied the new Capital Building, November 16. Pierce was an Indiana State Legislator in 1868. Assistant Clerk of the United States Senate from 1869 to 1871. United States Senator from 1889 to 1891. In 1893 he was appointed Minister to Portugal by President Harrison. Gilbert Ashville Pierce served in the Civil War. He served as editor of Chicago Inter Ocean and was editor of the Chicago News. While being editor of these papers. Pierce was appointed Governor of Dakota Territory by President Chester A. Arthur. He purchased interest in the Minneapolis Tribune in 1891. In 1893 he moved to the Chicago's Post Times and Herald. He vetoed a bill that would move the capital away from Bismark. He also vetoed a bill that would have given women the right to vote. Governor Gilbert A. Price was born at East Otto, Cattaraugus County, New York. Gilbert A. Pierce died at Chicago, Illinois, February 15, 1901. LOUIS K. CHURCH Ninth Territoral Governor 1887 - 1889 The legislature convened on January 11, 1887, had been in session several weeks before Louis Kossuth Church officially took office on February 21, 1887 as Territorial Governor. In 1882 Church was elected to the New York Legislature. Admitted to the bar in 1886. He was appointed associated justice of the Supreme Court of Dakota in 1885 by President Cleveland. Two years later he was appointed Governor of Dakota Territory by Cleveland. Governor Church was the first Democratic Governor of the Dakota Territory. Louis Koesuth Church was born at Brooklyn, New York on December 11, 1846 and died at Juneau, Alaska, November 25, 1898. ARTHUR C. MELLETTE Tenth Territorial Govenor 1889 Arthur Calvin Mellette took the oath of office as Dakota Territorial Governor, on March 22, 1889. He practiced law in Indiana. Trying to improve his wife's health he moved to Springfield, Dakota Territory. Mellette served as Register of the Land Office at Springfield and Watertown from 1878 to 1883. In 1883, Mellette was a member of the Constitutional Convention. Arthur Calvin Mellette served as Governor of Dakota Territory for seven months and was the last Dakota Territorial Governor. The Territory was divided into South Dakota and North Dakota on November 2, 1889. Arthur C. Mellette became the First Governor of South Dakota serving from 1889 to 1893 and John Miller became the first Governor of North Dakota. Arthur C. Mellette was born in Henry County, Indiana, June 25, 1842 and died at Pittsburg, Kansas, May 25, 1896.