Charles Samuel Deneen (May 4, 1863 – February 5, 1940) was an American lawyer and Republican politician who served as the 23rd Governor of Illinois, from 1905 to 1913. He was the first Illinois governor to serve two consecutive terms totalling eight years. He was governor during the infamous Springfield race riot of 1908, which he helped put down. He later served as a U.S. Senator from Illinois, from 1925 to 1931. Deneen had previously served as a member of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

from 1892 to 1894. As an attorney, he had been the lead prosecutor in Chicago's infamous Adolph Luetgert murder trial.

Life and career

Deneen was born in

Edwardsville, Illinois Edwardsville is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 26,808 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city was named in honor of Ninian Edwards, former governor of the Illinois Te ...

, to Samuel H. Deneen and Mary Frances Ashley. He was raised in Lebanon, Illinois, and graduated from McKendree College in Lebanon in 1882. He subsequently studied law at McKendree and at Union College of Law, while supporting himself by teaching school. He was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1886. On May 10, 1891, he married fellow Methodist Bina Day Maloney in

Princeton, Illinois Princeton is a city in and the county seat of Bureau County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,832 at the 2020 census. Princeton is part of the Ottawa, Illinois, Ottawa Ottawa, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area, Micropolitan Statistic ...

. The couple had four children; Charles Ashley, Dorothy, Frances, and Bina. His political career began soon thereafter, with election to the

in 1892. Deneen was Cook County State's Attorney from 1896 to 1904. In 1896, Deneen appointed Ferdinand Lee Barnett as the first black assistant state's attorney in Illinois upon the recommendation of the Cook County Commissioner Edward H. Wright. Deneen and Barnett worked together closely for the next two decades. Deneen became Governor of Illinois in 1905 and supported passage of the Illinois anti-

lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged or convicted transgressor or to intimidate others. It can also be an extreme form of i ...

law that year. The state had not had many instances of lynchings, but in 1909 William "Froggie" James was murdered in a spectacle lynching attended by a mob of 10,000 in

Cairo, Illinois Cairo ( , sometimes ) is the southernmost city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County, Illinois, Alexander County. A river city, Cairo has the lowest elevation of any location in Illinois and is the only Illinoi ...

. The crowd also lynched Henry Salzner, a white man, who had allegedly killed his wife. The governor sent in National Guard troops to suppress violence. Under the 1905 state law, Deneen dismissed Sheriff Frank E. Davis for failing to protect James and Salzner and resisted local efforts to have the officer reinstated. In 1924, Deneen defeated first-term Senator Medill McCormick in the Republican

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. Illinois at that time customarily had a downstate seat and a Chicago-area seat, which McCormick held. McCormick committed suicide in early 1925, for which his widow Ruth Hanna McCormick (a future U.S. Representative) blamed Deneen. She defeated him in the

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

Republican primary, but lost the November election to James Hamilton Lewis. In 1928 Deneen's home was bombed during an outbreak of violence among rival political factions in Chicago in advance of the

Pineapple Primary The Pineapple Primary was the name given to the primary election held in Illinois on April 10, 1928. The campaign was marked by numerous acts of violence, mostly in Chicago and elsewhere in Cook County. In the six months prior to the primary ele ...

election. Deneen died in Chicago on February 5, 1940, and was interred there in the

Oak Woods Cemetery Oak Woods Cemetery is a large lawn cemetery in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Located at 1035 E. 67th Street, it is in the Greater Grand Crossing area of Chicago's South Side. Established on February 12, 1853, it covers . Oak Woods is th ...

. The public Deneen School of Excellence was named in his honor. It is located in south Chicago next to the

Dan Ryan Expressway The Dan Ryan Expressway, often called "the Dan Ryan" by locals, is an expressway in Chicago that runs from the Jane Byrne Interchange with Interstate 290 (I-290) near downtown Chicago through the South Side of the city. It is designated ...

, not far from

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American organized crime, gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-foun ...

's former home on South Prairie.

Family relations

Deneen's daughter Dorothy married Allmand Matteson Blow, who was the son of Jennie Goodell Blow, grandson of Roswell Eaton Goodell, great-grandson of former Illinois governor

Joel Aldrich Matteson Joel Aldrich Matteson (August 8, 1808 – January 31, 1873) was the tenth Governor of Illinois, serving from 1853 to 1857. Career In 1855, he became the first governor to reside in the Illinois Executive Mansion. In January 1855, during the ...

, nephew-by-marriage of former Colorado governor

James Benton Grant James Benton Grant (January 2, 1848 – November 1, 1911) was an American mining magnate, mining engineer, Confederate Army soldier who served as the third Governor of Colorado from 1883 to 1885. Early life, American Civil War, and education G ...

, and nephew of former Colorado first lady Mary Goodell Grant. Deneen's great-grandson is actor

Jason Beghe Jason Deneen Beghe (; born March 12, 1960) is an American actor. Since 2014, he has starred in the NBC TV series '' Chicago P.D.'' as Sergeant Hank Voight. He is also known for starring in the 1988 George A. Romero film '' Monkey Shines'', pla ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deneen, Charles S. 1863 births 1940 deaths People from Edwardsville, Illinois Republican Party governors of Illinois Republican Party United States senators from Illinois Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni McKendree University alumni Illinois lawyers People from Lebanon, Illinois 20th-century United States senators 19th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly Cook County state's attorneys

Life and career

Family relations

References

Further reading

External links