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John B. Kendrick

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"Senator Kendrick" redirects here. For other uses, see Senator Kendrick (disambiguation).

John B. Kendrick
United States Senator
from Wyoming
In office
March 4, 1917 – November 3, 1933
Serving with
Francis E. Warren (1917–1929)
Patrick Joseph Sullivan (1929–1930)
Robert D. Carey (1930–1933)
Preceded byClarence D. Clark
Succeeded byJoseph C. O'Mahoney
9th Governor of Wyoming
In office
January 4, 1915 – February 26, 1917
Preceded byJoseph M. Carey
Succeeded byFrank L. Houx
Member of the Wyoming State Senate
In office
1910–1914
Succeeded byTheodore C. Diers
Personal details
Born
John Benjamin Kendrick

(1857-09-06)September 6, 1857
Rusk, Texas, U.S.
DiedNovember 3, 1933(1933-11-03) (aged 76)
Sheridan, Wyoming, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseEula Wulfjen
Children2
Parents
  • John Harvey Kendrick (father)
  • Anna Maye (mother)

John Benjamin Kendrick (September 6, 1857 – November 3, 1933) was an American politician and cattleman who served as a United States senator from Wyoming and as the ninth Governor of Wyoming as a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life

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A $10 National Bank Note, Series 1882 Brown Back, from the First National Bank of Sheridan, WY with the hand-signed signature of John B. Kendrick.

John Benjamin Kendrick was born near Rusk, Texas to John Harvey Kendrick and Anna Maye on September 6, 1857. He grew up on his family's ranch and attended a public school in Florence, Texas until the seventh grade.[1]

In March 1879 he was employed by Charles W. Wulfjen to move cattle from Texas to Wyoming.[2] He arrived in the Wyoming Territory in August 1879 and settled on a ranch near Sheridan, where he raised cattle as a cowboy, ranch foreman, and later cattle company owner.[2] In 1883 he returned to Texas and bought a cattle herd to establish his ranch in Wyoming.[3] He married Eula Wulfjen on January 20, 1891.[4] In 1895 he purchased the property in Nielsen Heights for his future home, and in 1908 began construction on the home, which came to be called Trails End.[5] In 1970, Trails End was added to the National Register of Historic Places; in 1982 it was donated to the state of Wyoming for operation as a museum.[5]

Kendrick worked as foreman for his father-in-law's cattle company from 1879 until 1883. He was employed by and invested into the Lance Creek Cattle Company and the Converse Cattle Company which he later became owner of in 1897.[2] Kendrick became president of the First National Bank of Sheridan in 1900 and served until 1902.[2]

Politics

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In 1909 he moved to Sheridan and was elected President of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association.[6] He was a member of the Wyoming State Senate from 1910 to 1914. In 1911 he was given the Democratic Senate nomination by acclamation by other Democratic members of the legislature, but was defeated by incumbent Senator Clarence D. Clark.[7] He was given the nomination again in 1912, but was also defeated by Senator Francis E. Warren.[8] He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention from Wyoming in 1916 and 1924.[4]

He then served as Governor of Wyoming from 1915 until he resigned in 1917, having been elected as a Democratic candidate to the United States Senate in 1916. During Kendrick's time as governor, various labor laws were intrdocued.[9]

Kendrick was reelected to the Senate in 1922 and 1928 and served from March 4, 1917, until his death at Sheridan, Wyoming, in 1933.[10] In 1932 he received an honorary law degree from the University of Wyoming.[11]

The Kendrick Cabinet
OfficeNameTerm
GovernorJohn B. Kendrick1915-1917
Secretary of StateFrank L. Houx1915-1917
State AuditorRobert B. Forsyth1915-1917
State TreasurerHerman B. Gates1915-1917
Superintendent of Public InstructionEdith K. O. Clark1915-1917

He was credited with beginning the investigations into the Teapot Dome scandal, a bribery incident that took place from 1922 until 1923, and was considered as a candidate in the 1924 and 1928 presidential elections. During the 1924 presidential election, Wyoming's six Democratic delegates were instructed to vote for Kendrick at the 1924 Democratic National Convention and did so for the first three ballots.[12] During the 1928 presidential election, he was considered as a possible vice presidential nominee, but the nomination was later given to Senator Minority Leader Joseph Taylor Robinson at the convention.[13]

He served as chairman of the Committee on Canadian Relations (Sixty-fifth Congress) and member of the Committee on Public Lands and Surveys (Seventy-third Congress).[14] He introduced legislation that helped create the Grand Teton National Park in northwestern Wyoming.[11]

Personal life

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Trail End, completed in 1913, is located in Sheridan, Wyoming. Known locally as the Kendrick Mansion, it was the home of John B. Kendrick and his family. It is now a house museum operated by the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources

His daughter Rosa Maye married army officer Hubert Reilly Harmon.[5]

On November 2, 1933 Kendrick fell into a coma and was initially diagnosed with a cerebral hemorrhage, but they later determined that he suffered a uremia and died the next day.[15] Governor Edwin C. Johnson praised him for his service as senator and Kendrick was interred in Mount Hope Cemetery in Sheridan, Wyoming.[16][17] First Assistant Postmaster General Joseph C. O'Mahoney was appointed by Governor Leslie A. Miller to fill the vacancy created by Kendrick's death and won the Senate special election to fill out the rest of Kendrick's term in 1934.[18]

Kendrick was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners in the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1958.[19]

Electoral history

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John B. Kendrick electoral history
1911 Wyoming Senate election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Clarence D. Clark (incumbent) 46 57.50%
Democratic John B. Kendrick 34 42.50%
Total votes '80' '100.00%'
1912 Wyoming Senate election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Francis E. Warren (incumbent) 47 55.95%
Democratic John B. Kendrick 37 44.05%
Total votes '84' '100.00%'
1916 Wyoming Senate election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic John B. Kendrick 26,324 51.47% +8.97%
Republican Clarence D. Clark (incumbent) 23,258 45.47% −12.03%
Socialist Paul L. Paulsen 1,334 2.61% +2.61%
Prohibition Arthur B. Campbell 231 0.45% +0.45%
Total votes '51,057' '100.00%'
1922 Wyoming Senate election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic John B. Kendrick (incumbent) 35,734 56.75% +5.28%
Republican Frank Wheeler Mondell 26,627 42.28% −3.19%
Socialist William B. Guthrie 612 0.97% −1.64%
Total votes '62,973' '100.00%'
1928 Wyoming Senate election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic John B. Kendrick (incumbent) 43,032 53.50% −3.25%
Republican Charles E. Winter 37,076 46.09% +3.81%
Socialist W.W. Wolfe 333 0.41% −0.56%
Total votes '80,441' '100.00%'

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "John B. Kendrick, Wyoming Senator, Dies Aged 76". Hartford Courant. November 4, 1933. p. 4. Archived from the original on January 15, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c d Peterson, p. 5.
  3. ^ "Death Claims Wyoming Senior Senator Friday". The Billings Gazette. November 4, 1933. p. 2. Archived from the original on January 15, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b "John Benjamin Kendrick (1857–1933)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  5. ^ a b c Georgen, Cynde A. (2004). One cowboy's dream : John B. Kendrick, his family, home, and ranching empire (2nd ed., rev ed.). Virginia Beach: Donning Co. Publishers. ISBN 1-57864-239-6. OCLC 53485392.
  6. ^ "Death Claims Wyoming Senior Senator Friday". The Boston Globe. May 18, 1922. p. 76. Archived from the original on January 17, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Clark Returns to Washington". Natrona County Tribune. February 11, 1911. p. 2. Archived from the original on January 16, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Senator F. E. Warren Wins". Natrona County Tribune. November 21, 1912. p. 2. Archived from the original on January 16, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Labor Legislation of 1915 : Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 186, P.435-438
  10. ^ "Sen. John Kendrick". Govtrack.us. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  11. ^ a b "Wyoming Governor John Benjamin Kendrick". National Governors Association. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  12. ^ "Wyoming First West State To Offer 'Timber'". Great Falls Tribune. May 13, 1924. p. 1. Archived from the original on January 17, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Consider Naming Kendrick for Vice President". The Pittsburgh Press. June 23, 1928. p. 13. Archived from the original on January 17, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "KENDRICK, John Benjamin, (1857–1933)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  15. ^ "Kendrick Dies; Rose to Senate From a Saddle". The Times Dispatch. November 4, 1933. p. 1. Archived from the original on January 15, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Gov. Johnson of Colorado Praises Late Statesman". Casper Star-Tribune. November 5, 1933. p. 2. Archived from the original on January 15, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "State Of Coma Grips Veteran U.S. Senator". Casper Star-Tribune. November 2, 1933. p. 1. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Miller Names O'Mahoney To Seat In Senate". Jackson's Hole Courier. November 16, 1933. p. 1. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "John Benjamin Kendrick". NNDB. Retrieved November 18, 2012.

Further reading

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  • Georgen, Cynde. In the shadow of the Bighorns: A history of early Sheridan and the Goose Creek valley of northern Wyoming. Sheridan, Wyoming: Sheridan County Historical Society, 2010. ISBN 978-0-9792871-7-6
  • Georgen, Cynde A. One cowboy's dream: John B. Kendrick, his family, home, and ranching empire. 2nd edition, revised. Virginia Beach, Virginia: The Donning Company Publishers, 2004. ISBN 1-57864-239-6
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to John B. Kendrick.
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of Wyoming
1914 		Succeeded by
First Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Wyoming
(Class 1)
1916, 1922, 1928 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of Wyoming
January 4, 1915 – February 26, 1917 		Succeeded by
U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Wyoming
1917–1933 		Succeeded by
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