Francis Griffith Newlands (August 28, 1846
http://nevadaculture.org/nsla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=807&Itemid=95 – December 24, 1917) was a United States Representative and Senator from
NevadaNevada is a state located in the western region of the United States. The capital is Carson City and the largest city is Las Vegas. The state's nickname is Silver State, due to the large number of silver deposits that were discovered and mined there...
.
Newlands was born in
NatchezNatchez is the county seat of, and the largest and only incorporated city within, Adams County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 18,464. One of Mississippi's oldest cities, it was founded by French colonists in 1716, antedating the current...
,
Adams CountyAdams County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of 2000, the population was 34,340. Its name is in honor of the second President of the United States, John Adams. The county seat is Natchez. It is part of the Natchez, MS–LA Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:Adams...
,
MississippiMississippi is a state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi . The state is heavily forested outside of the...
, on August 28, 1846, the son of James
BirneyBirney may refer to:*a birney, i.e. a once-popular small streetcar*Birney, Montana*Earle Birney , Canadian poet...
NewlandsNewlands may refer to the following places:* Newlands, Cape Town, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa* Newlands, Essex, a town on Canvey Island, England* Newlands, Gauteng, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa...
(
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
–
QuincyQuincy, Illinois, known as the "Gem City", is a city on the Mississippi River and county seat of Adams County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2000 census the city had 40,366 people. The community is a river city and was built on top of the bluffs...
,
Adams CountyAdams County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the population was 68,277. The County was formed in 1825 out of Pike County. Its name is in honor of the sixth President of the United States, John Quincy Adams...
,
IllinoisIllinois , the 21st state admitted to the United States of America, is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation...
, 1851) and wife Jessie Barland (
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
– living in 1867), who married secondly Ebenezer Moore,
Mayor"Mayor" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government....
of
QuincyQuincy, Illinois, known as the "Gem City", is a city on the Mississippi River and county seat of Adams County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2000 census the city had 40,366 people. The community is a river city and was built on top of the bluffs...
,
Adams CountyAdams County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the population was 68,277. The County was formed in 1825 out of Pike County. Its name is in honor of the sixth President of the United States, John Quincy Adams...
,
IllinoisIllinois , the 21st state admitted to the United States of America, is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation...
, who died in October, 1866.
He studied at
Yale UniversityRapidMiner is an environment for machine learning and data mining experiments. It allows experiments to be made up of a large number of arbitrarily nestable operators, described in XML files which are created with RapidMiner's graphical user interface...
and the Columbian College Law School (now the George Washington University Law School),
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
and was
admitted to the barAn Admission to practice law, also called Admission to the bar, is aquired when a lawyer receives their license to practice law. This technique varies widely by nation and jurisdiction; becoming a lawyer is a widely varied process across the world. Common to all the jurisdictions are requirements...
in 1869.
Francis G.
Francis Griffith Newlands (August 28, 1846
http://nevadaculture.org/nsla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=807&Itemid=95 – December 24, 1917) was a United States Representative and Senator from
NevadaNevada is a state located in the western region of the United States. The capital is Carson City and the largest city is Las Vegas. The state's nickname is Silver State, due to the large number of silver deposits that were discovered and mined there...
.
Early life
Newlands was born in
NatchezNatchez is the county seat of, and the largest and only incorporated city within, Adams County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 18,464. One of Mississippi's oldest cities, it was founded by French colonists in 1716, antedating the current...
,
Adams CountyAdams County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of 2000, the population was 34,340. Its name is in honor of the second President of the United States, John Adams. The county seat is Natchez. It is part of the Natchez, MS–LA Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:Adams...
,
MississippiMississippi is a state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi . The state is heavily forested outside of the...
, on August 28, 1846, the son of James
BirneyBirney may refer to:*a birney, i.e. a once-popular small streetcar*Birney, Montana*Earle Birney , Canadian poet...
NewlandsNewlands may refer to the following places:* Newlands, Cape Town, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa* Newlands, Essex, a town on Canvey Island, England* Newlands, Gauteng, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa...
(
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
–
QuincyQuincy, Illinois, known as the "Gem City", is a city on the Mississippi River and county seat of Adams County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2000 census the city had 40,366 people. The community is a river city and was built on top of the bluffs...
,
Adams CountyAdams County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the population was 68,277. The County was formed in 1825 out of Pike County. Its name is in honor of the sixth President of the United States, John Quincy Adams...
,
IllinoisIllinois , the 21st state admitted to the United States of America, is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation...
, 1851) and wife Jessie Barland (
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
– living in 1867), who married secondly Ebenezer Moore,
Mayor"Mayor" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government....
of
QuincyQuincy, Illinois, known as the "Gem City", is a city on the Mississippi River and county seat of Adams County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2000 census the city had 40,366 people. The community is a river city and was built on top of the bluffs...
,
Adams CountyAdams County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the population was 68,277. The County was formed in 1825 out of Pike County. Its name is in honor of the sixth President of the United States, John Quincy Adams...
,
IllinoisIllinois , the 21st state admitted to the United States of America, is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation...
, who died in October, 1866.
He studied at
Yale UniversityRapidMiner is an environment for machine learning and data mining experiments. It allows experiments to be made up of a large number of arbitrarily nestable operators, described in XML files which are created with RapidMiner's graphical user interface...
and the Columbian College Law School (now the George Washington University Law School),
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
and was
admitted to the barAn Admission to practice law, also called Admission to the bar, is aquired when a lawyer receives their license to practice law. This technique varies widely by nation and jurisdiction; becoming a lawyer is a widely varied process across the world. Common to all the jurisdictions are requirements...
in 1869.
Career in the West
Francis G. moved to San Francisco,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
in 1870 and came to work for
William SharonWilliam Sharon was a United States Senator from Nevada who profited from the Comstock Lode.-Early life:...
, one of the discoverers of the
Comstock LodeThe Comstock Lode was the first major U.S. deposit of silver ore, discovered under what is now Virginia City, Nevada on the eastern slope of Mt. Davidson, a peak in the Virginia range. After the discovery was made public in 1859, prospectors rushed to the area and scrambled to stake their claims...
in
Virginia CityVirginia City is an unincorporated community that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada, United States. It is part of the Reno–Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
,
Storey CountyStorey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2000 census, the population was 3,399, which was estimated to have risen to 4,110 in 2006...
,
NevadaNevada is a state located in the western region of the United States. The capital is Carson City and the largest city is Las Vegas. The state's nickname is Silver State, due to the large number of silver deposits that were discovered and mined there...
, who later also became Newlands's father-in-law, through the marriage in San Francisco,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
, on November 19, 1874 to his daughter Clara Adelaide Sharon (San Francisco,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
, 1854 – San Francisco,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
, February 17, 1882). Their daughter Frances Newlands (San Francisco,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
, November 21, 1880 –
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
, August 21, 1907) married in
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
, May 6, 1905 Leopold Waldemar von Bredow (
BredowBredow may refer to:* Szczecin-Drzetowo, a suburb of Szczecin, known in German as Stettin-BredowBredow is also a the surname of several people, including:* Reinhard Bredow , East German luger...
bei
NauenNauen is a town in the Havelland district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 38 km west of Berlin , and 26 km northwest of Potsdam....
, October 31, 1875 –
LausanneLausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, situated on the shores of Lake Geneva , and facing Évian-les-Bains and with the Jura mountains to its north-west. Lausanne is located some northeast of Geneva. It is the capital of the canton of Vaud and of the district of...
, October 1, 1933), and they were the maternal grandparents of
Chris StrachwitzChristian Alexander Maria, Graf Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche und Camminetz , is the founder and president of Arhoolie Records, which he established in 1960...
.
In 1888 he moved to
NevadaNevada is a state located in the western region of the United States. The capital is Carson City and the largest city is Las Vegas. The state's nickname is Silver State, due to the large number of silver deposits that were discovered and mined there...
to serve Sharon's interests and continued to practice
LawLaw is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primary social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets...
.
In the late 1880s, Newlands and his partners began the aggressive acquisition of farmland in
northwestern Washington, D.C.Northwest is the northwestern quadrant of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and is located north of the National Mall and west of North Capitol Street...
and southern
Montgomery County, MarylandMontgomery County of the U.S. state of Maryland is situated just north of Washington, D.C. and southwest of Baltimore. It is one of the most affluent counties in the nation, and has the highest percentage of residents over 25 years old who hold a post-graduate degree. The county seat and largest...
, for the purpose of developing a residential
streetcar suburbA streetcar suburb is a community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. The earliest suburbs were served by horsecars, but by the late 1800s cable cars and electric streetcars, or trams, were used, allowing residences to...
for
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
. (See
Washington streetcarsFor just under 100 years, between 1862 and 1962, streetcars in Washington, D.C. transported people across the city and region.The first streetcars in Washington D.C...
.) They founded the Chevy Chase Land Company in 1890, and its eventual holdings are now known as
Chevy Chase, Washington, D.C.Chevy Chase is a neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C. It borders Chevy Chase, Maryland, a collection of similarly affluent neighborhoods.-Geography:...
and
Chevy Chase, MarylandChevy Chase is the name of both a town and an unincorporated Census-Designated Place in Montgomery County, Maryland. In addition, a number of villages in the same area of Montgomery County include "Chevy Chase" in their names...
.
Representative
He served as a
DemocraticThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
RepresentativeThe United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
for Nevada between 1893 and 1903.
While a congressman, he wrote the
Newlands ResolutionThe Newlands Resolution, was a joint resolution written and named after United States Congressman Francis G. Newlands. It was an Act of Congress to annex the Republic of Hawai'i and create the Territory of Hawai'i....
, which was an act of the
United States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
to annex the
Republic of Hawai'iThe Republic of Hawaii was the formal name of the government that controlled Hawaii from 1894 to 1898 when it was run as a republic. The republic period occurred between the administration of the Provisional Government of Hawaii which ended on July 4, 1894 and the adoption of the Newlands...
and create the
Territory of Hawai'iThe Territory of Hawaii was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 7, 1898, until August 21, 1959, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Hawaii....
.
It was approved on July 4, 1898 and signed on July 7 by
President of the United StatesThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
William McKinleyWilliam McKinley Jr. was the 25th President of the United States, and the last veteran of the American Civil War to be elected to the office....
. Newlands became well known for his support of
irrigationIrrigation is an artificial application of water to the soil. It is usually used to assist in growing crops in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
,
land reclamationLand reclamation is either of two distinct practices. One involves creating new land from sea or riverbeds, the other refers to restoring an area to a more natural state have made it unusable, though its the former definition for which the phrase is most widely used.-Creating new land:-For...
as well as
free silverFree Silver was an important political issue in the late 19th century and early 20th century United States about whether to have an inflationary monetary policy by "free coinage of silver"; its supporters were called silverites...
. Newlands is most famous for the 1902
Newlands Reclamation ActThe Reclamation Act of 1902 is a United States federal law that funded irrigation projects for the arid lands of 17 states in the American West....
, which funded irrigation projects throughout much of the American West.
Senator
Later he became a
DemocraticThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
United States Senator for Nevada in 1903 and served until his death at
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
on December 24, 1917.
He was the only Democratic Senator to vote against the nomination of
Louis BrandeisLouis D. Brandeis was a United States Supreme Court Justice from 1916 to 1939. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky to Jewish parents who had immigrated from Europe...
to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court
Legacy
Newlands's former mansion in
RenoReno is a city in and the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The population was 180,480 at the 2000 census; in 2008, its population was estimated at 217,016, making it the fourth-largest city in the state after Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas, and the largest outside of...
would later become a local landmark. Many famous people, such as
Barbara HuttonBarbara Woolworth Hutton was an American socialite dubbed by the media as the "Poor Little Rich Girl" because of her troubled life...
in 1935, stayed at the house while awaiting their
divorceDivorce or dissolution of marriage is the final termination of a marriage, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between two persons...
paperwork to be finalized by George Thatcher, a local
lawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain stability, and deliver...
who had purchased the building.