Joshua Levering (September 12, 1845 - October 6, 1935) was a prominent Baptist and a candidate for president of the United States in 1896. He was president of the trustees of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, president of the

Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The wor ...

, co-founder of the American Baptist Educational Society, and co-founder of the Layman's Missionary Movement.

Life

On September 12, 1845, Joshua Levering was born in Baltimore, Maryland to Eugene Levering and Ann S. Levering along with his identical twin brother Eugene Levering. In 1872, he married Martha W. Keyser and had seven children with her before her death in 1888 and later married her sister Margaret S. Keyser in 1892 until her death in 1895. In 1901, he married Helen Woods who would outlive him. From 1881 to 1903, he was the superintendent of the Sunday school of Eutaw Place Church. In 1867, he served as a delegate to the Southern Baptist Convention. In 1884, he joined the Prohibition Party and was the party's candidate for comptroller in 1891 and governor in 1895. In 1887 and in 1893, he was chairman of the Maryland Prohibition party's state convention and served as a delegate to the 1888 and 1892 national conventions. On July 1, 1892, he was narrowly defeated by James B. Cranfill for the Prohibition Party's vice presidential nomination with 416 delegates to 332 delegates after a story circulated that Levering was a member of the coffee industry. On May 29, 1896, Levering became the presidential candidate of 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 ...

by acclamation for the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

; he was a narrow gauger who supported a platform with one plank for prohibition unlike the broad gaugers who supported free silver and women's suffrage being added to the platform. He and his running mate

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 ...

received 131,312 votes while the broad gauger presidential ticket of Charles Eugene Bentley and James H. Southgate received 13,968 votes. In 1885, he was elected as the president of the local branch of the YMCA until his retirement on January 8, 1901. In 1903, 1904, 1906, and 1907, he and members of his family traveled throughout the world to observe missionaries in Japan and China. In 1925 he served as a delegate to the Southern Baptist Convention again. On October 6, 1935 he died in Baltimore at age 90.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Levering, Joshua Prohibition Party (United States) presidential nominees Candidates in the 1896 United States presidential election 20th-century American politicians 1845 births 1935 deaths Identical twin politicians American twins Politicians from Baltimore Maryland Prohibitionists Maryland Democrats American temperance activists Kentucky Prohibitionists Southern Baptist Convention presidents Baptists from Maryland

Life

See also

References