Louis Kossuth Church (December 11, 1846November 23, 1897) was an American politician who was a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Supreme Court justice, a member of the New York Legislature, and the ninth and penultimate

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of ...

, serving from 1887 to 1889.

Biography

Louis K. Church was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

on December 11, 1846. He was educated at the Hudson River Institute at Claverack,

. After studying law at the office of Judge N. B. Moore, Church was admitted to the bar. He practiced law with Judge Moore until eventually practicing by himself in 1874. Church was a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

(Queens Co., 1st D.) in

1883 Events January * January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. * January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. * January 16 – ...

1884 Events January * January 4 – The Fabian Society is founded in London to promote gradualist social progress. * January 5 – Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera '' Princess Ida'', a satire on feminism, premières at the Savoy The ...

and

1885 Events January * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 17 – Mahdist ...

. In 1885, President Cleveland appointed Church as a justice of the

Dakota Territorial Supreme Court The Dakota Territorial Supreme Court was the highest court of the Dakota Territory, then an organized incorporated territory of the United States. It was the first Territorial Supreme Court in American history, and was established under Article One ...

for its Third District, replacing Seward Smith, whose mental health had come into question. Because of Church's good reputation as a judge, President Cleveland appointed Louis Church as Governor of Dakota Territory. A number of Democrats in Dakota Territory were disappointed in the appointment because they had expected the appointment of Dakota resident Frank M. Ziebach. Church became governor on February 21, 1887. He scrutinized every bill and restrained excessive spending with his veto power. He allowed the reform school to be established at

Plankinton Plankinton, colloquially known as Plank, is a city in and the county seat of Aurora County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 781 at the 2020 census. History Plankinton sprang up with the arrival of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Pa ...

. Church opposed the division of Dakota Territory into two separate states. Governor Church and former Governors,

Nehemiah G. Ordway Nehemiah George Ordway (November 10, 1828July 3, 1907) was an American politician who was a New Hampshire state senator and the seventh Governors of Dakota Territory, Governor of Dakota Territory. Ordway was regarded as one of Dakota Territory's ...

and John L. Pennington, wanted Dakota to enter the Union as a single state. In spite of his integrity, Church became very unpopular as governor because of his opposition to separate statehood. When

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was the 23rd president of the United States, serving from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia—a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a ...

defeated Cleveland as president, Church became a lame duck who was generally ignored by the territorial legislature. On March 4, 1889, Harrison was inaugurated as president, and Church resigned as governor on March 9, 1889. After leaving office, Louis Church returned to practicing law, first in

Huron Huron may refer to: Native American ethnography * Huron people, who have been called Wyandotte, Wyandot, Wendat and Quendat * Huron language, an Iroquoian language * Huron-Wendat Nation, or Huron-Wendat First Nation, or Nation Huronne-Wendat * N ...

and then in

Everett, Washington Everett (; ) is the county seat and most populous city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the Seattle metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett ...

. He died after developing pneumonia during a trip to

Juneau, Alaska Juneau ( ; ), officially the City and Borough of Juneau, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Alaska, located along the Gastineau Channel and the Southeast Alaska, Alaskan panhandle. Juneau was named the ...

on November 23, 1897.

References

External links

Louis K. Church's biography
at th
Historical Society of North Dakota website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Church, Louis K. 1846 births 1897 deaths 19th-century New York state court judges Dakota Territory judges Deaths from pneumonia in Alaska Governors of Dakota Territory Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly People from Beadle County, South Dakota Politicians from Brooklyn South Dakota Democrats Justices of the Dakota Territorial Supreme Court 19th-century members of the New York State Legislature