William Thomas Jeter (October 19, 1850 – May 15, 1930) was an American

Democratic 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 ...

politician. he served as the

21st 21 (twenty-one) is the natural number following 20 and preceding 22. The current century is the 21st century AD, under the Gregorian calendar. In mathematics 21 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being 1, 3 and 7, and a defici ...

Lieutenant Governor of California The lieutenant governor of California is the second highest executive officer of the government of the U.S. state of California. The lieutenant governor is elected to serve a four-year term and can serve a maximum of two terms. In addition to l ...

. He was born in Menard County, Illinois, the third son and eighth child of William Griffin Jeter and Elizabeth McCutchen Berry. He was raised in Illinois and Missouri, worked on his family's farms, and moved to California in the early 1870s. Jeter studied at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, attained admission to the bar, and practiced in Santa Cruz. Active in politics as a Democrat, in 1882 he became chairman of the Santa Cruz County Democratic Committee. In 1884 he was elected county

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

, and he won reelection twice. He later served as a member of the Santa Cruz City Council. He served as Mayor of Santa Cruz California from 1892 to 1894. In 1894 he was the Democratic nominee for

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

, and lost to Spencer G. Millard. At the top of the ticket, Democrat James Budd narrowly defeated Republican

Morris M. Estee Morris March Estee (November 23, 1833 – October 27, 1903) was an American Republican lawyer and politician from California. Estee was born in Pennsylvania but spent his young adult life in Sacramento from 1857 to 1859. His business card re ...

for governor. In October 1895, Millard died. Budd appointed Jeter to complete Millard's term as Lieutenant Governor. Jeter served from October 25, 1895, to January 3, 1899. For many years, Jeter was president of the Santa Cruz County National Bank and the Santa Cruz County Bank of Savings and Loan. William T. Jeter died in Santa Cruz on May 15, 1930. He was interred at Santa Cruz Memorial Park in Santa Cruz.

External links

Biography of William T. Jeter at Rootsweb
at the Political Graveyard * 1850 births 1930 deaths Lieutenant Governors of California Mayors of Santa Cruz, California University of California College of the Law, San Francisco alumni {{California-mayor-stub