Lorenzo Dow Lewelling (December 21, 1846 – September 3, 1900) was the 12th Governor of Kansas. He was born in

Salem, Iowa Salem is a city in Henry County, Iowa, United States. The population was 394 at the time of the 2020 census. History Salem was settled originally by Quakers with the intent that it be a community of Friends. In 1835 Aaron Street, while wending ...

. He was the son of William Lewelling, an abolitionist and Quaker minister who died soon after making an impassioned speech in Indiana. After the accidental burning to death of his mother in 1856, he lived with his older sister and struggled to gain an education. He attended Knox College (Illinois), the Eastman Business College and Whittier College (Iowa). He graduated from the Whittier College in 1867. Lewelling worked at various jobs until the Civil War broke out in 1861. He enlisted in an Iowa regiment, but since he was underage, he was discharged. He was employed by a bridge-building corps in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Employed by the Freedman's Aid Society in 1865, he taught at a black school at Mexico, Missouri. Following the Civil War, Lewelling graduated from Whittier College in 1868 and became a teacher at the college in

. He was known as an excellent lecturer and frequently gave public recitals of poetry. Lewelling became a teacher in the Iowa State Reform School and on April 18, 1870, he married Angelina M. Cook, a teacher, of Red Oak, Indiana. In 1872 he was made superintendent of the girls' department of the state reform school in Iowa, and his wife was appointed matron. He founded and edited the "Des Moines Capital", an "anti-ring" Republican newspaper from 1880 to 1882. His wife died while matron, leaving three daughters. He then married Ida Bishop and they had one daughter, Ruth. When Lewelling moved to Wichita, Kansas, he broke with the Republican party and was swept into office as a third-party candidate in the gubernatorial election of 1892. The Democrats endorsed his candidacy and he was elected. His wife, Ida remained in Wichita while he was in the capitol and his daughter, Jesse, acted as his official hostess. Lewelling presided over a state that was largely in the control of the Populist Party. However, the

state legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

was split, the Senate controlled by the Populists and the House by the

Republicans 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 ...

. Lewelling attempted to recognize only the Populist members of the

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

. Despite both groups meeting in the same chamber at different times, conflict occurred and led to the "Legislative War", until the Kansas Supreme Court decided in favor of the Republicans. Lewelling died in Arkansas City, Kansas, and is interred at Maple Grove Cemetery in Wichita. The Governor L. D. Lewelling House in Wichita, where he lived, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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*
Publications concerning Kansas Governor Lewelling's administration available via the KGI Online Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewelling, Lorenzo D. 1846 births 1900 deaths People from Henry County, Iowa Eastman Business College alumni Knox College (Illinois) alumni Whittier College alumni Politicians from Wichita, Kansas Kansas state senators American Quakers Kansas Populists People's Party state governors of the United States Democratic Party governors of Kansas Iowa Republicans 19th-century American politicians

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