John Granville Woolley (February 15, 1850 – August 13, 1922) was an American politician, lawyer, and public speaker who served as the

Prohibition Party The Prohibition Party (PRO) is a political party in the United States known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages and as an integral part of the temperance movement. It is the oldest existing third party ...

's presidential candidate in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

Biography

John Granville Woolley was born in Collinsville, Ohio, on February 15, 1850, to Edwin C. Woolley and Elizabeth Hunter Woolley. In 1871, he graduated from

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consortium ...

and the University of Michigan in 1873 and later gained admission to the Illinois bar. He was elected City Attorney in Paris, Illinois, in 1875 and became Prosecuting Attorney of Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1881. Two years after entering private practice in New York in 1886, Woolley, a reformed alcoholic, began a career of public speaking around the country.Prohibition Treasury Looted, Says Woolley
'' The New York Times'', November 24, 1904, page 2''The Battle of 1900: An Official Hand-Book for Every American Citizen''
by L. White Busby, Willis J. Abbott, Oliver W. Stewart ("Prohibition Issues") and Dr. Howard S. Taylor, Monarch Books (Chicago and Philadelphia), 1900, page 523John G Woolley Dies; Ran as Prohibitionist
'' The New York Times'', August 22, 1922, page 8 (reprinting an August 13 Associated Press story from Granada) On January 31, 1888, he joined the Prohibition Party in New York City and later that year

Clinton B. Fisk Clinton Bowen Fisk (December 8, 1828 - July 9, 1890) was a senior officer during Reconstruction in the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands and served as the Prohibition Party's presidential candidate during the 1888 presidential el ...

offered him a job to practice corporate law, but he rejected the offer. During the

1896 presidential election The following elections occurred in 1896: {{TOC right North America Canada * 1896 Canadian federal election * December 1896 Edmonton municipal election * January 1896 Edmonton municipal election * 1896 Manitoba general election United States * ...

there were attempts to draft him for the Prohibition presidential nomination, but he chose not to run. During the 1900 presidential election he ran for the Prohibition Party's presidential nomination and with the support of

Hale Johnson Hale Johnson (August 21, 1847 – November 4, 1902) was an American attorney and politician who served as the Prohibition Party's vice presidential nominee in 1896 and ran for its presidential nomination in 1900. Life Hale Johnson was born on ...

, the party's 1896 vice presidential nominee who withdrew shortly before balloting, was able to narrowly defeat

Silas C. Swallow Silas Comfort Swallow (March 5, 1839 – August 13, 1930) was a United States Methodist preacher and prohibitionist politician who was a lifelong opponent of slavery. Early life On March 5, 1839, Silas Comfort Swallow was born in Wilkes-Barre ...

for the nomination with 380 delegates to 320 on June 28, 1900. Woolley, along with Henry B. Metcalf, placed third in the popular vote with over 209,000 votes.Prohibition Ticket: Woolley and Metcalf; National Convention at Chicago Makes Its Nominations
'' The New York Times'', June 29, 1900, page 7 In

1903 Events January * January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India. * January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having been ...

, he received a single vote for Illinois's senate seat. In the 1900s he was successively editor and part-owner of ''The Lever'' in Chicago and of the journal into which it merged, ''The New Voice'', national organ of the Prohibition Party, founded in 1899. Woolley made two tours of Europe in 1901 and 1905 to speak for Prohibition. On January 4, 1913, he announced that he was leaving the Prohibition Party due to its vote totals continuing to decrease with every presidential election. In 1922, he was commissioned by the

World League Against Alcoholism 300px, The Drunkard's Progress: A lithograph by Nathaniel Currier supporting the temperance movement, January 1846. The World League Against Alcoholism was organized by the Anti-Saloon League, whose goal became establishing prohibition not only ...

to study prohibition in multiple countries, but died from a heart attack in

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

, Spain, on August 13, 1922.

Works

*''Seed'' *''The Sower'' *''Civilization by Faith'' *''The Christian Citizen'' (1897–1898) *''The Lion Hunter'' (1900) *''Temperance Progress in the Nineteenth Century'' (1902) *''Civic Sermons'' *''South Sea Letters'' (1905)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woolley, John G. 1850 births 1922 deaths Candidates in the 1900 United States presidential election Editors of Illinois newspapers Illinois Prohibitionists Lawyers from Chicago Ohio lawyers Ohio Prohibitionists Ohio Wesleyan University alumni People from Butler County, Ohio Writers from Chicago Writers from Ohio 19th-century American lawyers