Denver Sylvester Dickerson (January 24, 1872 – November 28, 1925) was an American

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He was the 11th

governor of Nevada A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

from 1908 to 1911. A member of the

Silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

– Democratic coalition party, he had previously held office as the 13th lieutenant governor of Nevada from 1907 to 1908. During his governorship, Dickerson worked to reform the state prison system. After leaving office, Dickerson became the Superintendent of Federal Prisons, predecessor to the present-day

Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Justice that is responsible for all List of United States federal prisons, federal prisons ...

. He was the warden of

Nevada State Prison Nevada State Prison (NSP) was a penitentiary located in Carson City. The prison was in continuous operation since its establishment in 1862 and was managed by the Nevada Department of Corrections. It was one of the oldest prisons still operat ...

until his death in 1925.

Biography

Dickerson was born on January 24, 1872, to Harvey Franklin and Catherine Melinda Dickerson in Millville in

Shasta County, California Shasta County (), officially the County of Shasta, is a County (United States), county located in the Northern California, northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its population is 182,155 as of the 2020 census, up from 177,223 from t ...

.Denver S. Dickerson, grandson of Denver S. Dickerson His father was a mining pioneer in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Dickerson received a public school education and was later privately tutored. Dickerson pursued mining in

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. During the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

in 1898, Dickerson was deployed as Sergeant of Troop D of the 2nd U.S. Volunteer Cavalry. Upon returning from his tour of duty as First Sergeant in 1899, Dickerson moved to

White Pine County, Nevada White Pine County is a largely rural, mountain County (United States), county along the central eastern boundary of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 9,080. Its county seat is Ely, ...

Settlement in Nevada

In 1902, Dickerson was elected to his first office, the

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

of White Pine County and later became county recorder. On April 23, 1904, Dickerson married Una Reilly of Cherry Creek, Nevada, in a ceremony held in Eureka, Nevada. On November 24, 1904, Dickerson and Charles A. Walker acquired the ''White Pine News''. By October 19, 1905, Dickerson was the newspaper's editor and sole proprietor.

State politics

In 1906, Dickerson decided to run for Lieutenant Governor of Nevada. While attending the Democratic State Convention in

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

as a young delegate, he discovered that no one was interested in running for the office. In May of that year, he handed over control of the ''White Pine News'' to Houlden Hudgins and sold it in the fall. On October 11, 1906, Dickerson founded the ''Ely Mining Expositor'' as a weekly paper representing the interests of the

- Democratic political coalition. Dickerson won the November election and took office in January 1907. The ''Ely Mining Expositor'' was helmed by various editors while Dickerson was in office and moved to daily publication by May 15, 1907. When fellow Silver-Democrat and Governor John Sparks died in office on May 22, 1908, Dickerson became the

acting governor An acting governor is a person who acts in the role of governor. In Commonwealth jurisdictions where the governor is a vice-regal position, the role of "acting governor" may be filled by a lieutenant governor (as in most Australian states) or a ...

. The Dickersons became the first family to move into the Nevada Governor's Mansion, recently completed at a cost of $22,700. On September 2, 1909, Una gave birth to June, the only child to be born in the mansion. During his gubernatorial tenure, Dickerson worked to restructure state mental hospitals and reform the state prison system. He also found support to reorganize the state Railroad Commission.

The "Fight of the Century"

In 1910, former undefeated boxing champion

James J. Jeffries James Jackson Jeffries (April 15, 1875 – March 3, 1953) was an American professional boxer and List of world heavyweight boxing champions, world heavyweight champion. He was known for his enormous strength and stamina. Jeffries fought out of ...

sought to reclaim the heavyweight championship as the "great white hope" from African-American Jack Johnson. Dickerson was impressed by Johnson's boxing skills and pledged to provide an opportunity for a match in Nevada without racial prejudice. Despite national pressure against staging the event, Dickerson allowed it to proceed in Reno. Promoter Tex Rickard assured Dickerson that it would be a fair fight. On July 4, 1910, Johnson defeated Jeffries, causing a wave of unrest across the country. In the election of November 1910, Dickerson was defeated and left office on January 2, 1911.

Later work

After leaving the governor's office, Dickerson was appointed superintendent of the Nevada State Police. In 1913, Dickerson was appointed the Warden of

Carson City Carson City, officially the Carson City Consolidated Municipality, is an independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the 6th most populous city in the state. The m ...

to replace George W. Cowing, who had problems finding men willing to form a

firing squad Firing may refer to: * Dismissal (employment), sudden loss of employment by termination * Firemaking, the act of starting a fire * Burning; see combustion * Shooting, specifically the discharge of firearms * Execution by firing squad, a method of ...

to execute convicted murderer Andriza Mircovich. The death sentence was eventually carried out by a custom-built shooting machine. Dickerson took office as the Superintendent of Federal Prisons in January 1920 under U.S. President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

. In September 1920, Jack Johnson was sent to the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas for incarceration while under Dickerson's administration. Dickerson worked to have Johnson

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

d against unsubstantiated charges. Dickerson resigned on April 2, 1921, when newly elected President

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was one of the most ...

announced that he would appoint his brother-in-law Heber Herbert Votaw to the office. In December 1923, Dickerson returned to Nevada State Prison. He supervised the execution of

Gee Jon Gee Jon (; 1895 – February 8, 1924) was a Chinese national who was the first person in the United States to be executed by lethal gas. A member of the Hip Sing Tong criminal society from San Francisco, California, Gee was sentenced to dea ...

in February 1924, the first to be carried out by

gas chamber A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. History Donatie ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Dickerson remained warden until his death in November 1925.

Legacy

Dickerson was buried at Lone Mountain Cemetery in Carson City. Afterwards, his wife Una was appointed head librarian of the law library at the courthouse in Reno, Nevada. She later retired in Reno and died on April 9, 1959, and was buried next to her husband. The Dickersons had eight children: Harvey, Norinne, June, Donald, Denver, Belford, Barbara and George. Their sons Harvey, Denver, and George followed their father's footsteps into Nevada state politics. Harvey Dickerson was elected

Attorney General of Nevada The Nevada Attorney General is the chief legal officer for the U.S. state of Nevada. The functions of the office are set forth in Nevada Revised Statutes, Chapter 228. The Attorney General represents the people of Nevada in civil and criminal mat ...

in 1954 and ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1958. Re-elected in 1962 and 1966, Dickerson became the only three time

to serve bifurcated terms of office. The younger Denver Dickerson would go on to become the Speaker of the

Nevada Assembly The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Nevada, the upper house being the Nevada Senate. The body consists of 42 members, elected to two-year terms from single-member distri ...

in 1943 and was appointed

Secretary of Guam The secretary of Guam was the equivalent of the lieutenant governor when the governorship was still appointed by the president of the United States. The office became the lieutenant governor of Guam when island residents began electing the positio ...

in 1963 by President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

. George M. Dickerson was elected District Attorney of

Clark County, Nevada Clark County is the most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Nevada with 2,265,461 residents as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The county is the location of the state's three largest cities, Las Vegas (t ...

in 1954 and President of the State Bar of Nevada in 1973. George's older brother Harvey was the first of three Dickersons to serve as the president of the State Bar of Nevada in 1953. George's son Robert P. Dickerson was the third to serve in 1997.

Other offices and affiliations

* 32nd degree

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

* Chairman of the Nevada Board of Education * Nevada Board of Prison Commissioners and Insane Asylum * President, Blaine Gold Mining and Milling Company * President, Robinson Mining Company * President, White Pine County Abstract and Guarantee Company * Sagebrush Club (Carson City, Nevada) * University Club (Ely, Nevada)

References

External links

*
Denver Sylvester Dickerson
at the

National Governors Association The National Governors Association (NGA) is an American Politics of the United States, political organization founded in 1908. The association's members are the governors of the 55 U.S. state, states, Territories of the United States, territories ...

Denver Sylvester Dickerson 1908-1910
at the Nevada State Library and Archives
Nevada Governors' Biographical Information
at the Nevada State Library and Archives
A Guide to the Dickerson saga, NC360
Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Reno. , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dickerson, Denver S. 1872 births 1925 deaths American male journalists American military personnel of the Spanish–American War American police chiefs American prison wardens American publishers (people) Democratic Party governors of Nevada Journalists from California Journalists from Nevada Law enforcement officials from Kansas Law enforcement officials from Nevada Lieutenant governors of Nevada Military personnel from California Military personnel from Nevada Nevada Silverites Politicians from Carson City, Nevada People from Shasta County, California Silver Party state governors of the United States United States Army soldiers