Walter Lowrie Fisher (July 4, 1862 – November 9, 1935) was

United States Secretary of the Interior The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natural ...

under President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

from 1911 to 1913. Fisher was born July 4, 1862 in

Wheeling, Virginia Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, West Virginia, Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contain ...

(now West Virginia) to Daniel Webster Fisher (1838 – 1913), a Presbyterian minister, and his wife Amanda D. Kouns († 1911). Educated at

Hanover College Hanover College is a private college in Hanover, Indiana, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Founded in 1827 by Reverend John Finley Crowe, it is Indiana's oldest private college. The Hanover athletic teams participate in the H ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

from which he graduated in 1883. While at Hanover, he was initiated into the Chi Chapter of the

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...

fraternity. In 1890, he was elected as the fifth Grand Consul (the National President) of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, a position he held until 1892. He married Mabel Taylor on April 22, 1891 and they had five sons and two daughters. In 1906, he was appointed by Chicago mayor

Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne (October 12, 1853 – May 24, 1937) was an American politician who was the 24th Governor of Illinois from 1913 to 1917 and previously served as the 38th mayor of Chicago from April 5, 1905 to 1907. Dunne is the onl ...

to serve as Special Traction Counsel, a role in which he would assist the mayor in addressing the city's traction issue. He resigned the following year after Dunne rejected his advice to accept the Settlement Ordinances that had passed in the

Chicago City Council The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms. The council is gaveled into session regularly, usually mont ...

. His papers, covering his professional and political careers and containing 14,000 items, are in the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Fisher had a brother, Dr. Howard Lowrie Fisher, who established a hospital for war victims in France during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He survived the sinking of the ''

RMS Lusitania RMS ''Lusitania'' (named after the Roman province in Western Europe corresponding to modern Portugal) was a British ocean liner that was launched by the Cunard Line in 1906 and that held the Blue Riband appellation for the fastest Atlanti ...

'' in 1915 by jumping off the ship. Dr. Fisher died November 9, 1935 in Winnetka,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

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* 1862 births 1935 deaths Politicians from Wheeling, West Virginia United States Secretaries of the Interior Hanover College alumni Taft administration cabinet members 20th-century American politicians West Virginia Republicans {{WestVirginia-politician-stub