Augustus Willson
Augustus Everett Willson (October 13, 1846 â August 24, 1931) was the 36th Governor of his native Kentucky, who served a single term from 1907 to 1911.[1] He was the first of only five Republicans in the 20th century to hold the state's highest office. By contrast, there were seventeen Democratic governors during the century.
| Augustus Everett Willson | |
| Augustus Willson | |
| In office December 10, 1907 â December 12, 1911 | |
| Preceded by | John Crepps Wycliffe Beckham |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | James B. McCreary |
Chairman of the
National Governors Association | |
| In office May 13, 1908 â September 12, 1911 | |
| Born | October 13, 1846 Maysville, Kentucky |
| Died | August 24, 1931 (aged 84) Louisville, Kentucky |
| Resting place | Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Elizabeth Ekin Willson |
| Alma mater | Harvard University (Bachelor's and Master of Arts) |
Born in Maysville in Mason County on the Ohio River, Willson moved with his parents to New Albany in Floyd County in southern Indiana. His mother, the former Ann Colvin, a native of Rhode Island, died in 1856. Then his father, Hiram Willson (1807-1859), died three years later, and young Willson was sent to New England to live with relatives. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in 1869 and 1872 from [[Harvard University] in Cambridge, Massachusetts]. His older brother, the poet Byron Forceythe Willson (1837-1867), introduced him to literary figures James Russell Lowell, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. When his brother was stricken at the age of forty, Augustus served as his caregiver. Willson was his brother's caregiver after Forcethye was stricken by illness.[2]
Willson wed the former Mary Elizabeth Ekin (1847-1934); the couple had a son, James Ekin, who died seven days after birth in 1879.[3]
After his Harvard graduation, Willson secured a position at the law firm of John Marshall Harlan, I, in Louisville and became Harlan's law partner. Originally a [[Segregation|segregationist] who opposed the Emancipation Proclamation and the corruption of Reconstruction, Harlan, a conservative Christian, was appointed by U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. In that capacity, he was best known for his dissent in the Plessy v. Ferguson decision in 1896 in which Harlan proclaimed that the United States Constitution as colorblind. Willson and Harlan became lifelong friends, both of whom were active in the GOP.
After several election defeats, Willson was elected governor in his second attempt. As governor he pardoned several men who were implicated in the 1900 assassination of Democratic Governor William Goebel. Democratic state legislators rejected most of Willson's proposed reforms. In 1914, the first year that United States Senators were popularly elected under the 17th Amendment, Willson ran unsuccessfully for the Senate. Following this defeat, Willson retired to Louisville, where he died at the age of eighty-four.
He and his wife are interred in Louisville a Cave Hill Cemetery.[1]