Lansing Bond Mizner (December 5, 1825 – December 9, 1893) was an American lawyer, diplomat, and politician. Mizner served as President of the

California Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature (the lower house being the California State Assembly). The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. N ...

and was US Minister (ambassador) to

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

and

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

Early life

Lansing B. Mizner was born on December 5, 1825, in Monroe County, Illinois, son of Henry Caldwell Mizner, who died when Lansing was 4 years old. His stepfather,

James Semple James Semple (January 5, 1798 – December 20, 1866) was an American attorney and politician. He was Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, Attorney General of Illinois, an associate justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, Chargé d'A ...

, was fluent in the Spanish language and was appointed

Chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

to the

Republic of New Granada The Republic of New Granada was a Centralism, centralist unitary republic consisting primarily of present-day Colombia and Panama with smaller portions of today's Costa Rica, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru and Brazil that existed from 1831 to 1858. ...

(present-day Colombia and Panama, and pieces of neighboring countries). The family lived in Bogotá, Colombia for five years (1837—1842), during which Lansing also became fluent in Spanish. He studied at

Shurtleff College Shurtleff College was a Baptist liberal arts school in Alton, Illinois until 1957. History Founded in 1827 by Reverend John Mason Peck (a Baptist missionary) as Rock Spring Seminary in St. Clair County, Illinois, and relocated to Alton, Illinoi ...

Career

He arrived in California by way of New Orleans and Panama May 20, 1843 (not 1849), settled at Benicia, and became a partner in the general merchandise company of Semple, Robinson & Co. He was admitted to the bar the same year. At the age of 22 he joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, and served in the Mexican War on the staff of General Shields. He was a member of the Society of California Pioneers. His adult home was in

Benicia, California Benicia ( , ) is a city in Solano County, California, located on the north bank of the Carquinez Strait in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It served as the List of capitals in the United S ...

, He served as the first Collector of Customs for the Northern District of California (San Francisco to the Oregon border). When the state government was formed in 1849, he was elected the Associate Justice of the Solano County Court of Sessions. He was elected as a California State Senator in the 1865 and 1867

s, and served as Chairman of the Commerce and Navigation and the Swamp Land Committees, and eventually President. Afterwards, he worked for

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 ...

's 1888 presidential campaign.

Minister to Central America

During the administration of President Benjamin Harrison, Mizner was appointed in 1889 Minister to

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, in essence the ambassador to Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala (where he was based), Honduras, and Nicaragua (

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

at that time was part of

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

). He was fluent in Spanish. When he traveled to Guatemala to begin his duties he was accompanied by his sons, the future architect

Addison Mizner Addison Cairns Mizner ( ) (December 12, 1872 – February 5, 1933) was an American architect whose Mediterranean Revival Style architecture, Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, Spanish Colonial Revival style interpret ...

and future playwright Wilson Mizner. He lasted in the job slightly more than a year. Mizner's first rebuke, from an Acting Secretary of State, was for calling for a union of the five Central American republics for protection from the more powerful Mexico to the north and Colombia to the south (Mexico and Colombia had both protested). There was a complicated incident in which American arms were being shipped to

(which had just had a ''

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

''), and Guatemala, having

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

, objected. In July 1890, exiled Guatemalan General Juan Martín Barrundia was on an American ship scheduled to stop at Guatemalan ports. Mizner, unable to communicate with Washington, agreed to the Guatemalan government's request he be seized. Resisting arrest, Barrundia was killed on this American ship by a bullet from one of the Guatemalan policemen who boarded the American ship. This was too much for the US government, and he was terminated in November 1890, by Secretary of State James G. Blaine. President Benjamin Harrison justified Mizner's dismissal in his 1890 Annual Message. State Department papers also detail the incident. Barrundia left a widow and several daughters, one of whom visited Mizner's office before his departure and shot at him. Barrundia's widow Transito Hurtarte appealed to the Department of State for damages, which the US government refused to grant.

Family

He built a house in Benicia and kept a small farm on what is now East L St. near First St. (where the Benicia Public Library is currently). He installed the first flush toilet in Benicia, which the children would show off to their friends. His wife was Ella Watson Mizner. He had seven children, one daughter Minnie, married to Horace Blanchard Chase, who later would found Stag's Leap Winery, and six boys: William, Lansing, Edgar, the architect Addison, Harvey, and Wilson. He died aged 68, of heart disease, at the residence of his daughter, at Yountville, in

Napa County Napa County () is a County (United States), county north of San Pablo Bay located in the Northern California, northern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 138,019. The county seat i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mizner, Lansing Bond 1825 births 1893 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to El Salvador Ambassadors of the United States to Costa Rica Ambassadors of the United States to Honduras Ambassadors of the United States to Nicaragua Ambassadors of the United States to Guatemala American military personnel of the Mexican–American War Military personnel from Illinois Shurtleff College alumni People from Monroe County, Illinois California lawyers 19th-century American lawyers People from Benicia, California Republican Party California state senators 1888 United States presidential election Presidency of Benjamin Harrison Addison Mizner Presidents pro tempore of the California State Senate 19th-century members of the California State Legislature