Samuel D. McEnery

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

Samuel Douglas McEnery
United States Senator
from Louisiana
In office
March 4, 1897 – June 28, 1910
Preceded byNewton C. Blanchard
Succeeded byJohn Thornton
30th Governor of Louisiana
In office
October 16, 1881 – May 20, 1888
LieutenantW.A. Robertson
George L. Walton
Clay Knobloch
Preceded byLouis A. Wiltz
Succeeded byFrancis T. Nicholls
16th Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
In office
January 14, 1880 – October 16, 1881
GovernorLouis A. Wiltz
Preceded byLouis A. Wiltz
Succeeded byW. A. Robertson
Personal details
Born(1837-05-28)May 28, 1837
Monroe, Louisiana
DiedJune 28, 1910(1910-06-28) (aged 73)
New Orleans, Louisiana
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materSpring Hill College
United States Naval Academy
University of Virginia
State and National Law School (New York)

Early life
Mrs Samuel D. McEnery

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

Career

In 1866, McEnery began practicing law in Monroe. He became active in the Democratic Party, and served as its chairman in Ouachita Parish. He was elected 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 corrupt Louisiana State Lottery Company. Despite Louisiana's Roman Catholic 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.[1]

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.[2]

Death

McEnery died on June 28, 1910, in New Orleans and was interred there at Metairie Cemetery.[3]

See also

Notes
  1. After Edwin Edwards, Catholics Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, Bobby Jindal, and John Bel Edwards were elected governors.
  2. 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.
  3. See the Louisiana Secretary of State's "Samuel Douglas McEnery" Archived 2008-02-21 at the Wayback Machine site for McEnery's religious affiliation, date of death, and other information.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Louis A. Wiltz		 Democratic nominee for Governor of Louisiana
1884		 Succeeded by
Francis T. Nicholls
Preceded by
Francis T. Nicholls		 Democratic nominee for Governor of Louisiana
1892		 Succeeded by
Murphy J. Foster
Political offices
Preceded by
Louis A. Wiltz		 Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
1880-1881		 Succeeded by
W.A. Robertson
Preceded by
Louis A. Wiltz		 Governor of Louisiana
1881–1888		 Succeeded by
Francis T. Nicholls
U.S. Senate
Preceded by
Newton C. Blanchard		 US Senator (Class 3) from Louisiana
1897–1910		 Succeeded by
John R. Thornton
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