Asbury Francis "Frank" Lever (January 5, 1875 – April 28, 1940) was a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Early life

Frank Lever was born near Springhill,

Lexington County Lexington County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 293,991, and the 2021 population estimate was 300,137. Its county seat and largest town is Lexington. The county was chartered ...

, South Carolina on January 5, 1875. He was the son of a farmer, Asbury Francis Washington Lever, and Mary Elvira Derrick. He attended the county schools and graduated from

Newberry College Newberry College is a private Lutheran college in Newberry, South Carolina. It has 1,250 students. Accreditation Newberry College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to award bac ...

with honors in 1895. He taught school for two years. He moved to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

as the private secretary to Representative

J. William Stokes James William Stokes (December 12, 1853 – July 6, 1901) was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina. Born near Orangeburg, South Carolina, Stokes attended the common schools and was graduated from Washington and Lee University, Lexing ...

from 1897 to 1901. He graduated from the Law Department of

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, in 1899 and was admitted to the bar in South Carolina the same year but did not practice. He married Lucile Scurry Butler in 1911. They had two children.

Political career

He was a delegate to the Democratic State conventions in 1896 and 1900. He was elected a member of the

South Carolina House of Representatives The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly. It consists of 124 representatives elected to two-year terms at the same time as U.S. congressional elections. Unlike many legislatures, seati ...

in 1901. He was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the Fifty-seventh Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of J. William Stokes was reelected to the Fifty-eighth and to the eight succeeding Congresses and served from November 5, 1901, until August 1, 1919. Lever was the chairman of the House Committee on Education from 1911 to 1913 (

Sixty-second Congress The 62nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1911, to M ...

) and Committee on Agriculture ( Sixty-third through Sixty-fifth Congresses). His major legislative achievements were in the area of state and federal efforts in agricultural and rural life. Major bills were the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 that established the

Cooperative Extension Service The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) was an extension agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), part of the executive branch of the federal government. The 1994 Department Reorganization Act, ...

, the

Cotton Futures Act The Cotton Futures Act of 1914 authorized the United States Department of Agriculture to establish physical standards as a means of determining color grade, staple length and strength, and other qualities and properties for cotton. It was intende ...

of 1914, the Cotton Warehouse Act of 1916,

Federal Farm Loan Act The Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916 () was a United States federal law aimed at increasing credit to rural family farmers. It did so by creating a federal farm loan board, twelve regional farm loan banks and tens of farm loan associations. The act ...

of 1916 that created the

Farm Credit Administration The Farm Credit Administration is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States. Its function is to regulate the financial institutions that provide credit to farmers. Authority The Farm Credit Administration is an indepen ...

, and the

Food and Fuel Control Act The Food and Fuel Control Act, , also called the Lever Act or the Lever Food Act was a World War I era US law that among other things created the United States Food Administration and the United States Fuel Administration. Legislative history Th ...

of 1917 that created a Food Administration and a Fuel Administration for

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He resigned from Congress to become a member of the

Federal Farm Loan Board The Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916 () was a United States federal law aimed at increasing credit to rural family farmers. It did so by creating a federal farm loan board, twelve regional farm loan banks and tens of farm loan associations. The act ...

, in which capacity he served until 1922. He briefly ran for the Democratic nomination for

Governor of South Carolina The governor of South Carolina is the head of government of South Carolina. The governor is the '' ex officio'' commander-in-chief of the National Guard when not called into federal service. The governor's responsibilities include making year ...

in 1930, but sickness ended his campaign.

Later life

He was a Chair of the Board of Trustees of Newberry College and Life Trustee of

Clemson College Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enro ...

from 1913 to 1940. He was elected president of the First Carolinas Joint Stock Land Bank at Columbia, South Carolina, in 1922 and was a field representative of Federal Farm Board. He was a director of the public relations administration of the

until his death. He died on April 28, 1940, at “Seven Oaks,” in Lexington County, South Carolina. He is interred at Woodland Cemetery (Cemetery Hill), on campus of Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina,

Clemson, South Carolina Clemson () is a city in Pickens and Anderson counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Clemson is home to Clemson University; in 2015, ''the Princeton Review'' cited the town of Clemson as ranking #1 in the United States for " town-and-gown" ...

Legacy

The

is a legacy to Lever. This helped transform rural America. The

Liberty Ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass ...

was named after Lever. Lever Hall, a high-rise dormitory on the Clemson University campus, is named after Lever. The Clemson University Library has Lever's papers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lever, Asbury Francis 1875 births 1940 deaths Newberry College alumni Georgetown University Law Center alumni Clemson University trustees People from Lexington County, South Carolina Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina