Davis Hanson Waite (April 9, 1825 – November 27, 1901) was an American politician. He was a member of the Populist Party, and he served as the eighth Governor of Colorado from 1893 to 1895.

Biography

Early years

Davis Hanson Waite was born on April 9, 1825, in

Jamestown, New York Jamestown is a city in southern Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 28,712 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Situated between Lake Erie to the north and the Allegheny National Forest to the south, Jamesto ...

, to Joseph Waite and Olive Davis Waite. He studied law and graduated from Jamestown Academy. In 1851, he married Frances Eliza Russell and together they had three children, Arthur, Olive and May Josephine. Waite served in the state legislatures of

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

in 1857, and

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

in 1879. Waite and his family moved to

Leadville, Colorado Leadville ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory city, statutory city that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only List of municipalities in Colorado, incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorado, Lak ...

, in 1879 to practice law.Governor Davis H. Waite Collection,"
Colorado State Archives, 9 cubic feet, bulk 1893–1895. After his wife Frances died in November 1880, he moved to

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...

. In Aspen he started the local newspaper and served as secretary of the local assembly of the Knights of Labor. He remarried to Celia O. Maltby (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Crane) on January 8, 1885. They had one son, Frank Hanson Waite.

Political career

Waite was elected to the

Wisconsin Legislature The Wisconsin Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house, Wisconsin State Senate, and the lower Wisconsin State Assembly, both of which have had Republ ...

as a Republican and ran a Republican newspaper in New York. In Colorado he edited the ''Union Era'', a reform paper, and helped to organized the People's Party (Populists) national convention. In 1892 he was nominated as the Populist candidate for Governor of Colorado and he was inaugurated on January 10, 1893. A passionate supporter of the Populist's Omaha Platform, he was nicknamed "Bloody Bridles" for an 1893 speech, in which he proclaimed, "It is better, infinitely better that blood should flow to the horses' bridles rather than our national liberties should be destroyed."Lawrence Goodwin, ''The Populist Moment: A Short History of the Agrarian Revolt in America.'' New York: Oxford University Press, 1978; p. 185. His election coincided with the Panic of 1893 which hit the silver mining industry in Colorado particularly hard. In 1894, the Western Federation of Miners went on a five-month strike and Waite intervened on behalf of the union, ordering the deployment of the state militia to support and protect the miners.Holbrook, Stewart. ''The Rocky Mountain Revolution.'' New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1956. That same year Waite supported the American Railroad Union during the national Pullman Strike. As governor he was also instrumental in the passage of

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

in Colorado, the second state to do so.

1894 Denver "City Hall War"

In 1893, a new

municipal charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document (''charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally, the granting of a charter ...

was given to

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

by the state legislature that decentralized much of the mayor's powers into six different administrative departments, two of which were elected, two appointed by the mayor, and the remaining two appointed by the governor. The municipal board members appointed by the governor had complete financial control over the police, fire, and excise departments. Governor Waite tried to overturn the corruption in Denver in 1894 by removing police and fire commissioners that he thought were shielding gamblers and prostitutes. The officials refused to leave their positions and were quickly joined by others who felt their jobs were threatened. They barricaded themselves in City Hall, and the state militia were sent to remove them. Federal troops were called in from nearby Fort Logan to intervene and quell the civil strife. Eventually Governor Waite agreed to withdraw the militia and allow the

state Supreme Court In the United States, a state supreme court (known by other names in some states) is the highest court in the state judiciary of a U.S. state. On matters of state law, the judgment of a state supreme court is considered final and binding in ...

to decide the case. The court ruled that the governor had authority to replace the commissioners, but he was reprimanded for bringing in the militia, in what became known as the "City Hall War". He was defeated for reelection in 1894, but continued to be active in the Populist movement until his death in 1901.

Death and legacy

Waite died on November 27, 1901, while preparing Thanksgiving dinner at his home in Aspen. His house on West Francis Street in Aspen has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Footnotes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Waite, Davis Hanson 1825 births 1901 deaths Governors of Colorado Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Members of the Kansas House of Representatives Politicians from Jamestown, New York People from Aspen, Colorado Colorado Democrats Colorado Republicans Colorado Populists People's Party state governors of the United States Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly New York (state) Republicans Kansas Republicans American newspaper executives Journalists from Colorado Journalists from New York (state) Knights of Labor people 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American newspaper people 19th-century Colorado politicians 19th-century members of the Kansas Legislature 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature