Charles Spalding Thomas (December 6, 1849June 24, 1934) was a

United States senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and p ...

from

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. Born in Darien, Georgia, he attended private schools in Georgia and

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, and served briefly in the Confederate Army.

Biography

Thomas graduated from the law department of the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

in 1871, and was admitted to the

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the same year. He moved to Colorado and began to practice in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

, where he was a city attorney in 1875 and 1876. He was a member of the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well ...

from 1884 to 1896, and was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

in 1884, to the Senate in 1888 and 1895, and to the

governor 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 ...

ship in 1894. Thomas served as the 11th Governor of Colorado from 1899 to 1901. In 1897, Colorado had abolished the death penalty, but Thomas considered lynching an understandable substitute. In 1900, when a lynch mob murdered Calvin Kimblern, Thomas called it "a natural outburst of indignation of the people of Pueblo" and blamed the lack of a death penalty for the murder. Six months later, a mob surrounded Denver's jail seeking to lynch 15-year-old Preston Porter. Thomas was informed but declined to intervene. "As a matter of fact, hanging is too good for that man," he told reporters. The spirit of the lynch law is with the people, and will remain in them just as long as the Anglo-Saxon exists." After Porter was burned alive by a mob, when Thomas was asked to comment on the lynching, he said, "My opinion is that there is one less negro in the world." Colorado reinstated the death penalty soon thereafter. In 1913, Thomas was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1912 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of

Charles J. Hughes, Jr. Charles James Hughes Jr. (February 16, 1853January 11, 1911) was a Democratic U.S. Senator from Colorado. Born in Kingston, Missouri, Hughes attended the common schools and graduated from Richmond (Mo.) College in 1871. He then graduated from ...

; in 1914, he was narrowly reelected to a full term in the face of split opposition. Thomas served from January 15, 1913, to March 3, 1921, and was the last Confederate veteran to serve in the Senate. In 1920, he was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection on the

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

ticket, receiving only 3% of the vote. In the Sixty-third and Sixty-fourth Congresses, Thomas was chairman of the Committee on Woman Suffrage, and a member of the Committee on Coast Defenses (Sixty-fifth Congress) and the Committee on Pacific Railroads (Sixty-sixth Congress). He resumed the practice of law in Denver, where he died on June 24, 1934; his remains were cremated and his ashes were scattered in the mountains.

Notes

References

Governor Charles S. Thomas Collection at the Colorado State Archives
Retrieved on 18 April 2008.

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Charles Spalding 1849 births 1934 deaths Colorado lawyers Confederate States Army soldiers Democratic Party governors of Colorado Democratic Party United States senators from Colorado People from Darien, Georgia People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War University of Michigan Law School alumni