Ion Lowndes Farris (September 14, 1878 – November 10, 1934) was an American politician and attorney from the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

. He served as both a member of the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopt ...

and the

Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted in ...

. He served twice as the

speaker of the Florida House of Representatives The speaker is the Speaker (politics), presiding member of the Florida House of Representatives. The Speaker and his staff provide direction and coordination to employees throughout the House and serve the members in carrying out their constitution ...

at a time when the legislature met only once every two years, in both 1909 and 1913, and president of the Florida Senate in 1913. He was an ardent supporter of former

Governor of Florida A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Napoleon Broward, and led the effort to get

Broward County Broward County ( , ) is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with over 1.94 m ...

named after him. He also led efforts to reduce the number of committees in the Senate. In 1916, he made a run for governor, but lost the Democrat primary. However, he led efforts to drain the

Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissim ...

, and forced the other candidates to take a position on the issue.

Life

Farris was born in 1878 in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

. While he was still a child, he moved to

Marion County, Florida Marion County is located in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 375,908. Its county seat is Ocala. Marion County comprises the Ocala, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area. it includes par ...

, with his family. Farris dropped out of high school to enter the workplace; he first went to work with his father as a

boilermaker A boilermaker is a tradesperson who fabricates steel, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bureau of Labor Statistics, US De ...

. He studied

stenography Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''st ...

and later began an apprenticeship with a law firm. He moved to

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which th ...

, at 21, and lived there the rest of his life. He married Allie Liddell in January 1901, and had three children with her; his youngest child was named for

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...

, with whom he had a close friendship. His nephew, C. Farris Bryant, became the 34th governor of Florida.

Legal career

Farris began his legal education studying at the

law office A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

s of Herbert Anderson and W.K. Zewadski. After his studies, he passed the

bar exam A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associat ...

and became an attorney. He specialized as a

criminal defense lawyer A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various ju ...

Political career

Florida House

Farris was first elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1907, taking over the seat previously held by

Henry Holland Buckman Henry Holland Buckman (1858–1914) was an attorney from Duval County, Florida, who became a member of the Florida Legislature and served on the Judiciary Committee. Buckman is known for being the author of the Buckman Act, a 1905 law that reor ...

. He served until 1909, when Frank E. Butler took over for the 1911 term. He returned to the House in 1913. He served as the speaker of the Florida House of Representatives twice, in both 1909 and 1913, at a time when the Florida Legislature met only once every two years. At the time, he was the youngest person to ever hold the position. In the 1913 bid for the position, he ran with no opposition. As speaker, he amended the bill that formed Broward County, Florida, to honor former Governor Broward, changing it from its original intended name of Everglades County.

Florida Senate

After leaving the House in 1913, Farris successfully ran for the

that same year. Once there, he sponsored efforts to remove a number of committees and reorganize the lawmaking the process into what he saw as a more streamlined effort. He sat on multiple committees, including the Judiciary B, Temperance, and Municipality Committees.

Gubernatorial run

Farris ran for governor of Florida in 1916. His campaign slogan was "Back to Broward", referring to the policies of former Governor

Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Napoleon Bonaparte Broward (April 19, 1857 – October 1, 1910) was an American river pilot, captain, and politician. He was elected as the 19th governor of the U.S. state of Florida, serving from January 3, 1905, to January 5, 1909. He was mos ...

, and his platform included draining the Everglades so that the land could be commercially developed. Farris lost the Democrat primary, but forced the other candidates in the race to address the drainage, successfully making it an election issue.

Political views

Farris identified as a progressive. He advocated for

home rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wi ...

and sponsored legislation that gave local governments greater control over their own organization.

References

External links

One of Farris' 1916 Gubernatorial Race advertisements
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farris, Ion 1878 births 1934 deaths Criminal defense lawyers Florida lawyers Democratic Party Florida state senators Politicians from Jacksonville, Florida Politicians from Savannah, Georgia Presidents of the Florida Senate Speakers of the Florida House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the Florida House of Representatives American boilermakers