Elijah Sherman Grammer (April 3, 1868November 19, 1936) was an American lumberman and politician who served as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

from November 22, 1932 to March 3, 1933. He was appointed to fill the former seat of

Wesley Livsey Jones Wesley Livsey Jones (October 9, 1863November 19, 1932) was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate representing the state of Washington. Born near Bethany, Illinois days aft ...

, who died in office in November 1932.

Biography

Grammer was born in rural

Quincy, Missouri Quincy is a small unincorporated community in northwestern Hickory County, Missouri, United States. It is located on Route 83, north of U.S. Route 54. A post office and a few homes are located there. Quincy was platted in 1848. The community mos ...

on April 3, 1868. He was educated in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

and at Bentonville College. He moved to

at age 19 in 1887, where he was a logger and then a general manager in logging camps near

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

. After completing additional courses at Bentonville College in 1892, he continued to work in the logging business. He moved to

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

in 1897. He returned to Washington in 1901, settling in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, which became the major city in the state. Grammer had ownership interests in several logging companies and other business ventures. From 1916 to 1917 he was president of the Employers’ Association of Washington. During

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 ...

, Grammer was commissioned as a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. He was assigned responsibility for spruce wood production at the mills in Grays and Willapa harbors. A

, on November 22, 1932 he was appointed to the United States Senate by Governor

Roland H. Hartley Roland Hill Hartley (June 26, 1864September 21, 1952) was a Canadian-American politician who served as the List of governors of Washington, tenth governor of Washington from 1925 to 1933. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republi ...

, filling the vacancy caused by the death of

Wesley L. Jones Wesley Livsey Jones (October 9, 1863November 19, 1932) was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate representing the state of Washington. Born near Bethany, Illinois days aft ...

in office. Jones had been defeated for reelection by Democrat

Homer Bone Homer Truett Bone (January 25, 1883 – March 11, 1970) was an American attorney and politician in Washington state, where he settled in Tacoma, Washington, Tacoma as a youth with his family from Indiana. He ran as a candidate for a variety of par ...

earlier in November; Grammer held the seat until March 3, 1933. Bone's term began on March 4. Grammer's appointment ensured that the Republicans maintained a majority of one during the Senate session that ran from December 1932 to March 1933. After completing his Senate service, Grammer resumed his business interests in Seattle. He served as manager of the Admiralty Logging Company and president of the Grammer Investment Company. He died in Seattle on November 19, 1936, and was buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Seattle.

Family

In 1904, Grammer married Emma Parke Kindley. They had no children, but did act as parents for a niece, Floy Oakley.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grammer, Elijah S. 1868 births 1936 deaths People from Hickory County, Missouri Republican Party United States senators from Washington (state) Washington (state) Republicans American manufacturing businesspeople United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army officers