J. C. W. Beckham
Encyclopedia
John Crepps Wickliffe Beckham (August 5, 1869 – January 9, 1940) was the 35th Governor of Kentucky
and a United States Senator
from Kentucky
. He was the state's first popularly elected senator following passage of the Seventeenth Amendment
.
Descended from a prominent political family, Beckham was chosen as Democrat
William Goebel
's running mate in the gubernatorial election of 1899
despite the fact that he was not yet of legal age to serve as governor if called to do so. Goebel lost the election to Republican
William S. Taylor
, but the Kentucky General Assembly
disputed the election results. During the political wrangling that followed, an unknown assassin shot Goebel. A day later the General Assembly invalidated enough votes to give the election to Goebel, who was sworn into office on his deathbed. Taylor claimed the election had been stolen by the Democratic majority in the General Assembly and a legal fight ensued between him and Beckham over the governorship. Beckham ultimately prevailed and Taylor fled the state.
Following his term as governor, Beckham made a bid to become a U.S. Senator. His stance in favor of prohibition
cost him the votes of four legislators in his own party and the seat went to Republican William O. Bradley. Six years later Beckham secured the seat by popular election, but he lost his re-election bid largely because of his pro-temperance views and his opposition to women's suffrage
. Though he continued to play an active role in state politics for another two decades, he never returned to elected office, failing in his gubernatorial bid in 1927 and his senatorial campaign in 1936. He died in Louisville
on January 9, 1940.
in Nelson County, Kentucky
, son of William Netherton and Julia Tevis (Wickliffe) Beckham. His maternal grandfather, Charles A. Wickliffe
, was governor of Kentucky from 1839 to 1840 and served as postmaster general in the administration of John Tyler
. His uncle, Robert C. Wickliffe
, served as governor of Louisiana.
Beckham obtained his early education at Roseland Academy in Bardstown. In 1881 he served as a page in the Kentucky House of Representatives
at the age of 12. Later, he enrolled at Central University (now Eastern Kentucky University
) in Richmond, Kentucky
but was forced to quit school at the age of 17 to support his widowed mother. Two years later, he became principal of Bardstown public schools, serving from 1888 to 1893. Concurrently, he studied law at the University of Kentucky
, where he earned his law degree in 1889. He was admitted to the bar
, and commenced practice in Bardstown in 1893. He also served as president of the Young Democrats' Club of Nelson County.
from 1900 to 1920.
William Goebel
chose Beckham as his running mate in the Kentucky gubernatorial election of 1899. Goebel was hesitant about the selection because he wanted someone who could deliver the vote of his home county in the general election, and Beckham's native Nelson County was already committed to a rival candidate. But friends of Goebel assured him that Beckham would be loyal to Goebel's reform agenda, whereas the two other men Goebel was considering as running mates would "stack the Senate committees against him." Beckham was not yet 30, the minimum age to serve as governor, at the time of his selection.
Goebel lost a close election to Republican
William S. Taylor
. When the General Assembly's session opened on January 2, 1900, the election results were immediately challenged. With Democrats in control of both houses of the Assembly, the results seemed sure to be reversed. The Assembly was still deliberating on January 30, 1900, when Goebel was shot by an unknown assailant as he entered the state capitol building
. The following day, as Goebel was being treated for his wounds at a local hotel, the General Assembly invalidated enough votes to give him the election. He was sworn into office from his bed the same day. Three days later Goebel died, never having risen from the bed.
Legislative chaos ensued as Taylor refused to acknowledge the Assembly's decision and vacate the governorship. The Republicans in the legislature obeyed Taylor's orders, while the Democrats ignored Taylor and followed the orders of their leadership. Finally, on February 21, 1900, Taylor and Beckham agreed to let the courts settle the matter. The case first went before the Louisville Circuit Court, which found in favor of Beckham. Republicans appealed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals
, at that time the court of last resort in the state. On April 6, 1900, the Court of Appeals upheld the ruling of the lower court. Taylor appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States
, which declined to hear the case on May 21, 1900. Taylor's only supporter on the court was Kentuckian John Marshall Harlan
.
Following the Supreme Court ruling, Taylor fled to Indianapolis
, Indiana, fearing he would be implicated in Goebel's assassination. Beckham became acting governor, despite still not being thirty, but because of the unusual circumstances surrounding the election a special election was held November 6, 1900, to determine who would complete Goebel's unexpired term. Beckham (now of age) won the election over Republican John W. Yerkes by fewer than 4,000 votes. Shortly following the special election, Beckham married Jean Raphael Fuqua of Owensboro
. The couple had two sons.
As governor Beckham sought to unite his party and the state. As part of this effort he supported changes to the blatantly partisan Goebel Election Law, authored by his late running mate while the latter was a member of the General Assembly. He stressed non-controversial issues such as improvements to roads and the state's educational system. He recommended passage of a law to set uniform school textbook prices, a reform both he and Goebel had advocated during the gubernatorial campaign. However, his passive leadership ensured that the General Assembly did little to address his agenda. The only major pieces of legislation passed during Beckham's term were a tax increase that added a half million dollars to the state's revenue and a child labor law that forbade children under 14 to work without their parents' consent.
prohibited governors from serving consecutive terms, Beckham announced he would seek a full term as governor in 1903. His candidacy was challenged in court, but the court ruled Beckham had not served a full first term and was eligible to run. Due to his record of reconciliation and supporting non-controversial reforms, he had no significant opposition in winning his party's nomination. His record also deprived his Republican opponent, Morris B. Belknap, of any significant campaign issue in the general election. Beckham defeated Belknap and three minor candidates.
In his message to the legislature in 1904, Beckham again raised the issue of a uniform school textbook law, which had not passed during his first term. The law was one of few significant reforms that passed during the 1904 session. During the session funds were approved for building a new capitol building
and a memorial to the late Governor Goebel.
In March 1904, Beckham signed the Day Law mandating racial segregation
of all schools in Kentucky. Berea College
, a private college in eastern Kentucky that had been integrated since the 1850s, immediately filed suit to challenge the law. The substance of the law was upheld in the circuit court and the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Berea appealed to the Supreme Court, and in 1908 the court handed down an 8–1 decision against the college
. Only John Marshall Harlan dissented.
Near the close of the 1904 session, legislators approved the creation of Beckham County
from parts of Carter
, Elliott
, and Lewis
counties. Olive Hill
was made the county seat
. Soon the county's existence was challenged in court on grounds that it fell short of the 400 mi2 required by the state constitution and that it reduced the counties it was carved from to less than 400 mi2. Carter County joined the lawsuit, claiming the border of Beckham County passed too close to Grayson
, the seat of Carter County, and Vanceburg
, the seat of Lewis County. The state constitution forbade county borders to pass within 10 miles (16.1 km) of a county seat. On April 29, 1904, the Kentucky Court of Appeals found in favor of the plaintiffs and dissolved Beckham County.
During the 1906 legislative session, Beckham urged investigation and prosecution of corrupt insurance companies, following the lead of New York attorney Charles Evans Hughes
. In particular, he recommended reducing the practice of deferred dividend
s, which allowed the insurance companies to keep large stores of cash on-hand for illegal purposes. He further advocated that insurance companies doing business in the state be required to invest a certain percentage of their earnings in Kentucky, bolstering the its economy and providing policyholders some protection against fraud.
Beckham refused to send troops into the western part of the state to quell the ongoing Black Patch Tobacco Wars
. He cited constitutional reasons for his refusal, but more probably his reasons were political – the Democrats were dominant in this region and he didn't want to challenge his own party. By collecting some old Civil War
debts from the federal government, Beckham virtually eliminated the state's debt. Encouraged by the state's improved finances, the General Assembly voted to expand two of the state's normal school
s, Western State Teachers College in Bowling Green
(later Western Kentucky University
) and Eastern State Teachers College in Richmond (later part of Eastern Kentucky University).
With a successful legislative session behind him, Beckham made a bold political move in June 1906: he orchestrated an effort to set the Democratic gubernatorial and senatorial primaries in November – a full year before the gubernatorial election and two years before the senatorial election. Beckham wanted the Senate seat, and moving the primary up two years would allow him to secure his party's nomination while he was still governor. It also allowed him to use his influence as governor to sway the party's choice of his potential successor as governor. State Auditor Samuel Wilbur Hager was Beckham's choice for governor and easily won the early primary over challenger N.B. Hays. Former governor James B. McCreary
challenged Beckham for the senatorial nomination, but Beckham won by more than 11,000 votes.
by virtue of the primary held two years earlier. The Republicans nominated former governor William O. Bradley. On the first ballot Beckham secured 66 of the needed 69 votes; Bradley received 64 votes. Seven Democrats had not voted for Beckham. Over the next six weeks, 25 more votes were taken with neither man securing a majority, even though William Jennings Bryan
, the Democratic nominee for president, campaigned for Beckham. Some Democrats pressured Beckham to withdraw and allow a more palatable Democrat to run, but he refused. On the 29th ballot, taken near the end of February 1908, Bradley finally secured a majority after four Democrats crossed party lines to vote for him.
Beckham's ardent support of prohibition
likely cost him the election. His position put him at odds with Henry Watterson
, editor of the powerful Louisville Courier-Journal. As governor Beckham had crossed the liquor interests and the political machine
ry in Louisville
. When the Kentucky Court of Appeals
invalidated the results of Louisville's municipal elections due to interference by the city's "whiskey ring" in May 1907, Beckham appointed Robert Worth Bingham
, a young lawyer and fellow prohibitionist, as interim mayor until elections could be held in November. Bingham eliminated grafting in the police department, closed gambling houses and enforced blue law
s closing saloons on Sunday. Following this, the whiskey ring announced Beckham had forfeited the support of Louisville's legislators. In the senatorial election in 1908, three of the four Democrats who voted against Beckham were from Louisville. Following his defeat, Beckham returned to his law practice.
Six years later Beckham again attempted to win the Senate seat. Due to the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment
, the senator would not be elected by the legislature, but by popular vote. In the Democratic primary Beckham defeated Augustus O. Stanley
, a 12-year veteran congressman
. The Republican nominee was former governor Augustus E. Willson
. Bolstered by his support of President Woodrow Wilson
, Beckham won the election by 32,000 votes.
Beckham served as chairman of the Senate Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Labor
from 1915 to 1917 and on the Senate Committee on Military Affairs. In the latter position he was influential in securing two large military training posts for Kentucky, Camp Zachary Taylor
and Fort Knox
. Though Camp Zachary Taylor was abandoned after World War I, Fort Knox became the home of the United States Bullion Depository
. When the United States entered World War I, Beckham continued to back President Wilson and supported the League of Nations
.
True to his prohibitionist stance, Beckham supported passage of the Eighteenth Amendment
forbidding the import and sale of alcohol in the United States. The amendment was ratified
and became effective in January 1920. Believing women should be protected from involvement in politics, Beckham opposed the Nineteenth Amendment
, which granted women's suffrage. The amendment failed on February 10, 1919, but passed on June 4, 1919. Beckham voted against it both times.
The Democrats renominated Beckham without opposition in 1920. His opponent in the general election was Republican Richard P. Ernst
. Prohibition had destroyed the distilling industry and the saloon business in the state, and in areas where these industries were prominent Beckham received more than 5,000 fewer votes than Democratic presidential nominee James M. Cox
. He was also hurt by the women's vote and by his support of President Wilson, who had lost popularity since Beckham's election in 1914. Ernst won the election by fewer than 5,000 votes, winning the race with 50.3 percent of the vote to Beckham's 49.7 percent. During his single term in the Senate Beckham served alongside three other U.S. Senators from Kentucky
: Ollie M. James
, George B. Martin
and Augustus O. Stanley
.
at the state's horse racetracks
.
The Jockey Club ran a candidate in both parties' primary elections. In the Democratic primary Beckham defeated the Club's relatively obscure candidate, Robert T. Crowe. Flem D. Sampson
, the Club's nominee in the Republican primary, won his party's nomination. In the general election Beckham could not secure the support of Democratic governor William J. Fields
, who had been elected with the help of the Jockey Club. Despite the Democrats winning every other contest on the ballot, including the race for lieutenant governor, Beckham lost to Sampson by more than 32,000 votes. It was estimated that the Club spent over $500,000 to defeat him.
Beckham was expected to be the Democrats' nominee for governor in 1935, but the death of his son in late 1934 left him distraught and his wife opposed to another campaign. The Democrats turned to A. B. "Happy" Chandler
of Henderson
, who won the election. Beckham supported Chandler's bid, and in return Chandler appointed him to the Kentucky Public Service Commission
in 1936. Beckham also served on the Department of Business Regulations Commission and chaired the State Government Reorganization Commission.
Beckham attempted to return to the Senate in 1936. The head of the Jockey Club, James B. Brown, had lost his fortune and influence when his banking empire crashed in 1930. In 1933 Beckham's ally, Robert Bingham, had been appointed ambassador to the Court of St. James's
, increasing his prominence and influence. Beckham also enjoyed the support of the United Mine Workers
and Louisville mayor Neville Miller
. The race was complicated, though, by the entry of John Y. Brown, a Democrat who was a U.S. Representative and former Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives. He had agreed to support Chandler's bid for the governorship in exchange for Chandler's support in his run for the Senate. However, Chandler threw his support to Beckham, and while Brown was not able to win the seat without the support of Bingham and Chandler, he did garner 85,000 votes, most of them at Beckham's expense. Republican incumbent M. M. Logan
retained the seat by 2,385 votes.
Beckham died in Louisville on January 9, 1940, and was buried in Frankfort Cemetery
in Frankfort, Kentucky
. Beckham County, Oklahoma
, was named in his honor at the suggestion of a Kentuckian who was serving as a delegate to Oklahoma's constitutional convention in 1907. Wickland, his birthplace, was added to the National Register of Historic Places
on February 16, 1973.
Governor of Kentucky
The Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of the executive branch of government in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Fifty-six men and one woman have served as Governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; since 1992, incumbents have been able to seek re-election once...
and a United States Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. He was the state's first popularly elected senator following passage of the Seventeenth Amendment
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution established direct election of United States Senators by popular vote. The amendment supersedes Article I, § 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of the Constitution, under which senators were elected by state legislatures...
.
Descended from a prominent political family, Beckham was chosen as Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
William Goebel
William Goebel
William Justus Goebel was an American politician who served as the 34th Governor of Kentucky for a few days in 1900 after having been mortally wounded by an assassin the day before he was sworn in...
's running mate in the gubernatorial election of 1899
Kentucky gubernatorial election, 1899
The Kentucky gubernatorial election of 1899 was held on November 7, 1899, to choose the 33rd governor of Kentucky. The incumbent, Republican William O'Connell Bradley, was term-limited and unable to seek re-election....
despite the fact that he was not yet of legal age to serve as governor if called to do so. Goebel lost the election to Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
William S. Taylor
William S. Taylor
William Sylvester Taylor was the 33rd Governor of Kentucky. He was initially declared the winner of the disputed gubernatorial election of 1899, but the Kentucky General Assembly reversed the election results, giving the victory to his opponent, William Goebel...
, but the Kentucky General Assembly
Kentucky General Assembly
The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky.The General Assembly meets annually in the state capitol building in Frankfort, Kentucky, convening on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January...
disputed the election results. During the political wrangling that followed, an unknown assassin shot Goebel. A day later the General Assembly invalidated enough votes to give the election to Goebel, who was sworn into office on his deathbed. Taylor claimed the election had been stolen by the Democratic majority in the General Assembly and a legal fight ensued between him and Beckham over the governorship. Beckham ultimately prevailed and Taylor fled the state.
Following his term as governor, Beckham made a bid to become a U.S. Senator. His stance in favor of prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
cost him the votes of four legislators in his own party and the seat went to Republican William O. Bradley. Six years later Beckham secured the seat by popular election, but he lost his re-election bid largely because of his pro-temperance views and his opposition to women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
. Though he continued to play an active role in state politics for another two decades, he never returned to elected office, failing in his gubernatorial bid in 1927 and his senatorial campaign in 1936. He died in Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
on January 9, 1940.
Early life
J. C. W. Beckham was born at Wickland, near BardstownBardstown, Kentucky
As of the census of 2010, there were 11,700 people, 4,712 households, and 2,949 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 5,113 housing units at an average density of...
in Nelson County, Kentucky
Nelson County, Kentucky
Nelson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2010, the population was 43,437. Its county seat is Bardstown. The county is part of the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY–IN Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
, son of William Netherton and Julia Tevis (Wickliffe) Beckham. His maternal grandfather, Charles A. Wickliffe
Charles A. Wickliffe
Charles Anderson Wickliffe was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky. He also served as Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives, the 14th Governor of Kentucky, and was appointed Postmaster General by President John Tyler...
, was governor of Kentucky from 1839 to 1840 and served as postmaster general in the administration of John Tyler
John Tyler
John Tyler was the tenth President of the United States . A native of Virginia, Tyler served as a state legislator, governor, U.S. representative, and U.S. senator before being elected Vice President . He was the first to succeed to the office of President following the death of a predecessor...
. His uncle, Robert C. Wickliffe
Robert C. Wickliffe
Robert Charles Wickliffe was Lieutenant Governor and the 15th Governor of Louisiana from 1856-60.-Early life and education:...
, served as governor of Louisiana.
Beckham obtained his early education at Roseland Academy in Bardstown. In 1881 he served as a page in the Kentucky House of Representatives
Kentucky House of Representatives
The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a House district, except when necessary to preserve...
at the age of 12. Later, he enrolled at Central University (now Eastern Kentucky University
Eastern Kentucky University
Eastern Kentucky University, commonly referred to as Eastern or by the acronym EKU by local residents, is an undergraduate and graduate teaching and research institution located in Richmond, Kentucky, U.S.A.. EKU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools...
) in Richmond, Kentucky
Richmond, Kentucky
There were 10,795 households out of which 24.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.2% were married couples living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.6% were non-families. Of all households, 34.7% were made up of individuals and 8.8% had...
but was forced to quit school at the age of 17 to support his widowed mother. Two years later, he became principal of Bardstown public schools, serving from 1888 to 1893. Concurrently, he studied law at the University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
, where he earned his law degree in 1889. He was admitted to the bar
Bar (law)
Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...
, and commenced practice in Bardstown in 1893. He also served as president of the Young Democrats' Club of Nelson County.
Political career
Beckham's political career began in 1894 when he was elected without opposition to the Kentucky House of Representatives. He served four consecutive terms and was Speaker of the House in 1898, his final year in the House. He also served as a delegate to every Democratic National ConventionDemocratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...
from 1900 to 1920.
Governor of Kentucky
DemocratDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
William Goebel
William Goebel
William Justus Goebel was an American politician who served as the 34th Governor of Kentucky for a few days in 1900 after having been mortally wounded by an assassin the day before he was sworn in...
chose Beckham as his running mate in the Kentucky gubernatorial election of 1899. Goebel was hesitant about the selection because he wanted someone who could deliver the vote of his home county in the general election, and Beckham's native Nelson County was already committed to a rival candidate. But friends of Goebel assured him that Beckham would be loyal to Goebel's reform agenda, whereas the two other men Goebel was considering as running mates would "stack the Senate committees against him." Beckham was not yet 30, the minimum age to serve as governor, at the time of his selection.
Goebel lost a close election to Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
William S. Taylor
William S. Taylor
William Sylvester Taylor was the 33rd Governor of Kentucky. He was initially declared the winner of the disputed gubernatorial election of 1899, but the Kentucky General Assembly reversed the election results, giving the victory to his opponent, William Goebel...
. When the General Assembly's session opened on January 2, 1900, the election results were immediately challenged. With Democrats in control of both houses of the Assembly, the results seemed sure to be reversed. The Assembly was still deliberating on January 30, 1900, when Goebel was shot by an unknown assailant as he entered the state capitol building
Old State Capitol (Kentucky)
The Old State Capitol , also known as Old Statehouse, was the third Capitol of Kentucky. The building in Frankfort, Kentucky served as the capitol of the Commonwealth of Kentucky from 1830 to 1910. The building has been restored to its American Civil War era appearance.The Kentucky legislature...
. The following day, as Goebel was being treated for his wounds at a local hotel, the General Assembly invalidated enough votes to give him the election. He was sworn into office from his bed the same day. Three days later Goebel died, never having risen from the bed.
Legislative chaos ensued as Taylor refused to acknowledge the Assembly's decision and vacate the governorship. The Republicans in the legislature obeyed Taylor's orders, while the Democrats ignored Taylor and followed the orders of their leadership. Finally, on February 21, 1900, Taylor and Beckham agreed to let the courts settle the matter. The case first went before the Louisville Circuit Court, which found in favor of Beckham. Republicans appealed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals
Kentucky Court of Appeals
The Kentucky Court of Appeals is the lower of Kentucky's two appellate courts, under the Kentucky Supreme Court. Prior to a 1975 amendment to the Kentucky Constitution the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky....
, at that time the court of last resort in the state. On April 6, 1900, the Court of Appeals upheld the ruling of the lower court. Taylor appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
, which declined to hear the case on May 21, 1900. Taylor's only supporter on the court was Kentuckian John Marshall Harlan
John Marshall Harlan
John Marshall Harlan was a Kentucky lawyer and politician who served as an associate justice on the Supreme Court. He is most notable as the lone dissenter in the Civil Rights Cases , and Plessy v...
.
Following the Supreme Court ruling, Taylor fled to Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, Indiana, fearing he would be implicated in Goebel's assassination. Beckham became acting governor, despite still not being thirty, but because of the unusual circumstances surrounding the election a special election was held November 6, 1900, to determine who would complete Goebel's unexpired term. Beckham (now of age) won the election over Republican John W. Yerkes by fewer than 4,000 votes. Shortly following the special election, Beckham married Jean Raphael Fuqua of Owensboro
Owensboro, Kentucky
Owensboro is the fourth largest city by population in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is the county seat of Daviess County. It is located on U.S. Route 60 about southeast of Evansville, Indiana, and is the principal city of the Owensboro, Kentucky, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's...
. The couple had two sons.
As governor Beckham sought to unite his party and the state. As part of this effort he supported changes to the blatantly partisan Goebel Election Law, authored by his late running mate while the latter was a member of the General Assembly. He stressed non-controversial issues such as improvements to roads and the state's educational system. He recommended passage of a law to set uniform school textbook prices, a reform both he and Goebel had advocated during the gubernatorial campaign. However, his passive leadership ensured that the General Assembly did little to address his agenda. The only major pieces of legislation passed during Beckham's term were a tax increase that added a half million dollars to the state's revenue and a child labor law that forbade children under 14 to work without their parents' consent.
Second term
Although the Kentucky ConstitutionKentucky Constitution
The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the document that governs the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It was first adopted in 1792 and has since been rewritten three times and amended many more...
prohibited governors from serving consecutive terms, Beckham announced he would seek a full term as governor in 1903. His candidacy was challenged in court, but the court ruled Beckham had not served a full first term and was eligible to run. Due to his record of reconciliation and supporting non-controversial reforms, he had no significant opposition in winning his party's nomination. His record also deprived his Republican opponent, Morris B. Belknap, of any significant campaign issue in the general election. Beckham defeated Belknap and three minor candidates.
Kentucky State Capitol
The Kentucky State Capitol is located in Frankfort and is the house of the three branches of the state government of the Commonwealth of Kentucky...
and a memorial to the late Governor Goebel.
In March 1904, Beckham signed the Day Law mandating racial segregation
Racial segregation in the United States
Racial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation or hypersegregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along racial lines...
of all schools in Kentucky. Berea College
Berea College
Berea College is a liberal arts work college in Berea, Kentucky , founded in 1855. Current full-time enrollment is 1,514 students...
, a private college in eastern Kentucky that had been integrated since the 1850s, immediately filed suit to challenge the law. The substance of the law was upheld in the circuit court and the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Berea appealed to the Supreme Court, and in 1908 the court handed down an 8–1 decision against the college
Berea College v. Kentucky
Berea College v. Kentucky , was a significant case argued before the United States Supreme Court that upheld the rights of states to prohibit private educational institutions chartered as corporations from admitting both black and white students. Like the related Plessy v. Ferguson case, it was...
. Only John Marshall Harlan dissented.
Near the close of the 1904 session, legislators approved the creation of Beckham County
Beckham County, Kentucky
Beckham County, Kentucky was a county formed by the Kentucky General Assembly on February 9, 1904. Beckham County was created in the northeastern part of the state from parts of Carter County, Kentucky, Lewis County, Kentucky and Elliott County, Kentucky. The county seat was Olive Hill, Kentucky...
from parts of Carter
Carter County, Kentucky
Carter County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1838 and was named for William Grayson Carter, a state senator at the time of its creation. The county seat is named for his uncle, Robert Grayson. As of 2000, the population was 26,889. Its county seat is Grayson,...
, Elliott
Elliott County, Kentucky
Elliott County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1869. As of 2000, the population is 6,748. Its county seat is Sandy Hook, Kentucky. The county is named for John Milton Elliott, U.S. Congressman; Confederate Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals...
, and Lewis
Lewis County, Kentucky
Lewis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 14,092. Its county seat is Vanceburg. The county is named for Meriwether Lewis.Lewis County is part of the Maysville Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
counties. Olive Hill
Olive Hill, Kentucky
There were 791 households out of which 26.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.5% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.2% were non-families. 34.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.6% had someone...
was made the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
. Soon the county's existence was challenged in court on grounds that it fell short of the 400 mi2 required by the state constitution and that it reduced the counties it was carved from to less than 400 mi2. Carter County joined the lawsuit, claiming the border of Beckham County passed too close to Grayson
Grayson, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,877 people, 1,415 households, and 938 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,549.1 people per square mile . There were 1,538 housing units at an average density of 614.5 per square mile...
, the seat of Carter County, and Vanceburg
Vanceburg, Kentucky
Vanceburg is a city in Lewis County, Kentucky, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 1,731 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lewis County.Vanceburg is part of the Maysville Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, the seat of Lewis County. The state constitution forbade county borders to pass within 10 miles (16.1 km) of a county seat. On April 29, 1904, the Kentucky Court of Appeals found in favor of the plaintiffs and dissolved Beckham County.
During the 1906 legislative session, Beckham urged investigation and prosecution of corrupt insurance companies, following the lead of New York attorney Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes, Sr. was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican politician from New York. He served as the 36th Governor of New York , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , United States Secretary of State , a judge on the Court of International Justice , and...
. In particular, he recommended reducing the practice of deferred dividend
Dividend
Dividends are payments made by a corporation to its shareholder members. It is the portion of corporate profits paid out to stockholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, that money can be put to two uses: it can either be re-invested in the business , or it can be distributed to...
s, which allowed the insurance companies to keep large stores of cash on-hand for illegal purposes. He further advocated that insurance companies doing business in the state be required to invest a certain percentage of their earnings in Kentucky, bolstering the its economy and providing policyholders some protection against fraud.
Beckham refused to send troops into the western part of the state to quell the ongoing Black Patch Tobacco Wars
Black Patch Tobacco Wars
The "Black Patch" or "dark fired" tobacco area included counties in southwestern Kentucky and adjoining districts in Tennessee. On September 24, 1904, American tobacco planters formed the protectionist Dark Tobacco District Planters' Protective Association of Kentucky and Tennessee to oppose the...
. He cited constitutional reasons for his refusal, but more probably his reasons were political – the Democrats were dominant in this region and he didn't want to challenge his own party. By collecting some old Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
debts from the federal government, Beckham virtually eliminated the state's debt. Encouraged by the state's improved finances, the General Assembly voted to expand two of the state's normal school
Normal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...
s, Western State Teachers College in Bowling Green
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Bowling Green is the third-most populous city in the state of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, with a population of 58,067 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Warren County and the principal city of the Bowling Green, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area with an estimated 2009...
(later Western Kentucky University
Western Kentucky University
Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA. It was formally founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier....
) and Eastern State Teachers College in Richmond (later part of Eastern Kentucky University).
With a successful legislative session behind him, Beckham made a bold political move in June 1906: he orchestrated an effort to set the Democratic gubernatorial and senatorial primaries in November – a full year before the gubernatorial election and two years before the senatorial election. Beckham wanted the Senate seat, and moving the primary up two years would allow him to secure his party's nomination while he was still governor. It also allowed him to use his influence as governor to sway the party's choice of his potential successor as governor. State Auditor Samuel Wilbur Hager was Beckham's choice for governor and easily won the early primary over challenger N.B. Hays. Former governor James B. McCreary
James B. McCreary
James Bennett McCreary was a lawyer and politician from the US state of Kentucky. He represented the state in both houses of the U.S. Congress and served as its 27th and 37th governor...
challenged Beckham for the senatorial nomination, but Beckham won by more than 11,000 votes.
U.S. Senator
Beckham's term as governor ended December 10, 1907. In January 1908 he faced the legislature as the Democratic nominee for a seat in the U.S. SenateUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
by virtue of the primary held two years earlier. The Republicans nominated former governor William O. Bradley. On the first ballot Beckham secured 66 of the needed 69 votes; Bradley received 64 votes. Seven Democrats had not voted for Beckham. Over the next six weeks, 25 more votes were taken with neither man securing a majority, even though William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
, the Democratic nominee for president, campaigned for Beckham. Some Democrats pressured Beckham to withdraw and allow a more palatable Democrat to run, but he refused. On the 29th ballot, taken near the end of February 1908, Bradley finally secured a majority after four Democrats crossed party lines to vote for him.
Beckham's ardent support of prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
likely cost him the election. His position put him at odds with Henry Watterson
Henry Watterson
Henry Watterson was a United States journalist who founded the Louisville Courier-Journal.He also served part of one term in the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat....
, editor of the powerful Louisville Courier-Journal. As governor Beckham had crossed the liquor interests and the political machine
Political machine
A political machine is a political organization in which an authoritative boss or small group commands the support of a corps of supporters and businesses , who receive rewards for their efforts...
ry in Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
. When the Kentucky Court of Appeals
Kentucky Court of Appeals
The Kentucky Court of Appeals is the lower of Kentucky's two appellate courts, under the Kentucky Supreme Court. Prior to a 1975 amendment to the Kentucky Constitution the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky....
invalidated the results of Louisville's municipal elections due to interference by the city's "whiskey ring" in May 1907, Beckham appointed Robert Worth Bingham
Robert Worth Bingham
Robert Worth Bingham was a politician, judge, newspaper publisher and United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He attended the University of North Carolina and University of Virginia but did not graduate. He moved to Louisville in the 1890s and received a law degree from the University of...
, a young lawyer and fellow prohibitionist, as interim mayor until elections could be held in November. Bingham eliminated grafting in the police department, closed gambling houses and enforced blue law
Blue law
A blue law is a type of law, typically found in the United States and, formerly, in Canada, designed to enforce religious standards, particularly the observance of Sunday as a day of worship or rest, and a restriction on Sunday shopping...
s closing saloons on Sunday. Following this, the whiskey ring announced Beckham had forfeited the support of Louisville's legislators. In the senatorial election in 1908, three of the four Democrats who voted against Beckham were from Louisville. Following his defeat, Beckham returned to his law practice.
Six years later Beckham again attempted to win the Senate seat. Due to the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution established direct election of United States Senators by popular vote. The amendment supersedes Article I, § 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of the Constitution, under which senators were elected by state legislatures...
, the senator would not be elected by the legislature, but by popular vote. In the Democratic primary Beckham defeated Augustus O. Stanley
Augustus O. Stanley
Augustus Owsley Stanley I was a politician from the US state of Kentucky. A Democrat, he served as the 38th Governor of Kentucky and also represented the state in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate...
, a 12-year veteran congressman
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
. The Republican nominee was former governor Augustus E. Willson
Augustus E. Willson
Augustus Everett Willson was the 36th Governor of Kentucky. Orphaned at the age of twelve, Willson went to live with relatives in New England...
. Bolstered by his support of President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
, Beckham won the election by 32,000 votes.
Beckham served as chairman of the Senate Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Labor
United States Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The...
from 1915 to 1917 and on the Senate Committee on Military Affairs. In the latter position he was influential in securing two large military training posts for Kentucky, Camp Zachary Taylor
Camp Zachary Taylor
Camp Zachary Taylor was a military training camp in Louisville, Kentucky. It opened in 1917, to train soldiers for U.S. involvement in World War I, and was closed three years later. Its name live on as the Camp Taylor neighborhood of Louisville...
and Fort Knox
Fort Knox
Fort Knox is a United States Army post in Kentucky south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. The base covers parts of Bullitt, Hardin, and Meade counties. It currently holds the Army Human Resources Center of Excellence to include the Army Human Resources Command, United States Army Cadet...
. Though Camp Zachary Taylor was abandoned after World War I, Fort Knox became the home of the United States Bullion Depository
United States Bullion Depository
The United States Bullion Depository, often known as Fort Knox, is a fortified vault building located adjacent to Fort Knox, Kentucky, used to store a large portion of United States official gold reserves and occasionally other precious items belonging or entrusted to the federal government.The...
. When the United States entered World War I, Beckham continued to back President Wilson and supported the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
.
True to his prohibitionist stance, Beckham supported passage of the Eighteenth Amendment
Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution established Prohibition in the United States. The separate Volstead Act set down methods of enforcing the Eighteenth Amendment, and defined which "intoxicating liquors" were prohibited, and which were excluded from prohibition...
forbidding the import and sale of alcohol in the United States. The amendment was ratified
Ratification
Ratification is a principal's approval of an act of its agent where the agent lacked authority to legally bind the principal. The term applies to private contract law, international treaties, and constitutionals in federations such as the United States and Canada.- Private law :In contract law, the...
and became effective in January 1920. Believing women should be protected from involvement in politics, Beckham opposed the Nineteenth Amendment
Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits any United States citizen to be denied the right to vote based on sex. It was ratified on August 18, 1920....
, which granted women's suffrage. The amendment failed on February 10, 1919, but passed on June 4, 1919. Beckham voted against it both times.
The Democrats renominated Beckham without opposition in 1920. His opponent in the general election was Republican Richard P. Ernst
Richard P. Ernst
Richard Pretlow Ernst was a U.S. Senator from Kentucky who served from 1921 to 1927. He was a Republican. Ernst graduated from Centre College in 1878 and got his law degree from the Cincinnati Law School in 1880. That year, he was admitted to the bar and began practicing law in Cincinnati, Ohio...
. Prohibition had destroyed the distilling industry and the saloon business in the state, and in areas where these industries were prominent Beckham received more than 5,000 fewer votes than Democratic presidential nominee James M. Cox
James M. Cox
James Middleton Cox was the 46th and 48th Governor of Ohio, U.S. Representative from Ohio and Democratic candidate for President of the United States in the election of 1920....
. He was also hurt by the women's vote and by his support of President Wilson, who had lost popularity since Beckham's election in 1914. Ernst won the election by fewer than 5,000 votes, winning the race with 50.3 percent of the vote to Beckham's 49.7 percent. During his single term in the Senate Beckham served alongside three other U.S. Senators from Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
: Ollie M. James
Ollie M. James
Ollie Murray James , a Democrat, represented Kentucky in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate.-Biography:...
, George B. Martin
George B. Martin
George Brown Martin , a Democrat, served as a member of the United States Senate from Kentucky.Born in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, Martin moved with his parents to Catlettsburg, Kentucky, in 1877. He attended the public schools and graduated from Centre University in 1895...
and Augustus O. Stanley
Augustus O. Stanley
Augustus Owsley Stanley I was a politician from the US state of Kentucky. A Democrat, he served as the 38th Governor of Kentucky and also represented the state in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate...
.
Later life and death
Following his term in the Senate, Beckham resumed his legal practice in Louisville. He sought another term as governor in 1927. This time he had the support of the Louisville Courier-Journal, which had been purchased by his ally, Robert W. Bingham. He was opposed by a powerful political machine known as the Jockey Club, whose main interest was securing legislation to allow parimutuel bettingParimutuel betting
Parimutuel betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vig" is removed, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winning bets...
at the state's horse racetracks
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
.
The Jockey Club ran a candidate in both parties' primary elections. In the Democratic primary Beckham defeated the Club's relatively obscure candidate, Robert T. Crowe. Flem D. Sampson
Flem D. Sampson
Flemon Davis "Flem" Sampson was the 42nd Governor of Kentucky, serving from 1927 to 1931. He graduated from Valparaiso University in 1894, and opened a law practice in Barbourville, Kentucky. He formed a political alliance with future congressmen Caleb Powers and John Robsion, both prominent...
, the Club's nominee in the Republican primary, won his party's nomination. In the general election Beckham could not secure the support of Democratic governor William J. Fields
William J. Fields
William Jason Fields was a politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. Known as "Honest Bill from Olive Hill", he represented Kentucky's Ninth District in the U.S...
, who had been elected with the help of the Jockey Club. Despite the Democrats winning every other contest on the ballot, including the race for lieutenant governor, Beckham lost to Sampson by more than 32,000 votes. It was estimated that the Club spent over $500,000 to defeat him.
Beckham was expected to be the Democrats' nominee for governor in 1935, but the death of his son in late 1934 left him distraught and his wife opposed to another campaign. The Democrats turned to A. B. "Happy" Chandler
Happy Chandler
Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler, Sr. was a politician from the US state of Kentucky. He represented the state in the U.S. Senate and served as its 44th and 49th governor. Aside from his political positions, he also served as the second Commissioner of Major League Baseball from 1945 to 1951 and...
of Henderson
Henderson, Kentucky
Henderson is a city in Henderson County, Kentucky, United States, along the Ohio River in the western part of the state. The population was 27,952 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Evansville Metropolitan Area often referred to as "Kentuckiana", although "Tri-State Area" or "Tri-State" are more...
, who won the election. Beckham supported Chandler's bid, and in return Chandler appointed him to the Kentucky Public Service Commission
Kentucky Public Service Commission
The Kentucky Public Service Commission is a public utilities commission, a quasi-judicial regulatory tribunal, whichregulates the intrastate rates and services of investor-owned electric, natural gas, telephone, water and sewage utilities, customer-owned electric and telephone cooperatives, water...
in 1936. Beckham also served on the Department of Business Regulations Commission and chaired the State Government Reorganization Commission.
Court of St. James's
The Court of St James's is the royal court of the United Kingdom. It previously had the same function in the Kingdom of England and in the Kingdom of Great Britain .-Overview:...
, increasing his prominence and influence. Beckham also enjoyed the support of the United Mine Workers
United Mine Workers
The United Mine Workers of America is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners and coal technicians. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the United States and Canada...
and Louisville mayor Neville Miller
Neville Miller
Neville Miller was mayor of Louisville, Kentucky from 1933 to 1937. His father, Shackelford Miller, was Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals...
. The race was complicated, though, by the entry of John Y. Brown, a Democrat who was a U.S. Representative and former Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives. He had agreed to support Chandler's bid for the governorship in exchange for Chandler's support in his run for the Senate. However, Chandler threw his support to Beckham, and while Brown was not able to win the seat without the support of Bingham and Chandler, he did garner 85,000 votes, most of them at Beckham's expense. Republican incumbent M. M. Logan
M. M. Logan
Marvel Mills Logan , a Democrat, served as a member of the United States Senate from Kentucky.Mills was born on a farm near Brownsville, Edmonson County, Kentucky. He taught school for two years and also conducted a training school for teachers. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in...
retained the seat by 2,385 votes.
Beckham died in Louisville on January 9, 1940, and was buried in Frankfort Cemetery
Frankfort Cemetery
The Frankfort Cemetery is located on East Main Street in Frankfort, Kentucky. The cemetery is the burial site of Daniel Boone and contains the graves of other famous Americans including seventeen Kentucky governors.-History:...
in Frankfort, Kentucky
Frankfort, Kentucky
Frankfort is a city in Kentucky that serves as the state capital and the county seat of Franklin County. The population was 27,741 at the 2000 census; by population it is the 5th smallest state capital in the United States...
. Beckham County, Oklahoma
Beckham County, Oklahoma
Beckham County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 19,799. Its county seat is Sayre.Founded upon statehood in 1907, Beckham County was named for J. C. W...
, was named in his honor at the suggestion of a Kentuckian who was serving as a delegate to Oklahoma's constitutional convention in 1907. Wickland, his birthplace, was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on February 16, 1973.