Jerry Simpson | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byC. M. Bellc. 1891–1894 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromKansas's7th district | |
| In office March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1899 | |
| Preceded by | Chester I. Long |
| Succeeded by | Chester I. Long |
| In office March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1895 | |
| Preceded by | Samuel R. Peters |
| Succeeded by | Chester I. Long |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1842-03-31)March 31, 1842 Prince Edward Island, Canada |
| Died | October 23, 1905(1905-10-23) (aged 63) |
| Party | Populist |
| Signature | .png) |
Jeremiah Simpson (March 31, 1842 – October 23, 1905), nicknamed "Sockless Jerry"Simpson, was anAmerican politician from theU.S. state ofKansas. An old-stylepopulist, he was elected to theUnited States House of Representatives three times. He was aGeorgist and formergreenbacker.[1]
Born inPrince Edward Island, Canada, Simpson moved with his family toOneida County, New York when he was six. Although he did poorly in school, he was very intelligent and a voracious reader. During theCivil War, he served in theIllinois Volunteer Infantry, but was discharged for medical reasons.
After the war, Simpson moved toIndiana, where he signed on as a deckhand on a steamship that traversed theGreat Lakes. By the time he had risen to the position of captain, he had married and started a family. Deciding to live a more stationary life, he moved toJackson County, Kansas and bought himself a farm.
He married in 1870.In the late 1870s, a combination of hard times for farming in general and the death of his child in asawmill accident drove Simpson to move south, toBarber County, Kansas, where he bought aranch and a herd ofcattle.[2]
In late 1883 and early 1884, a long, hard winter killed his entire herd, and Simpson was reduced to working as the townmarshal inMedicine Lodge, Kansas. It was during this time that Simpson, angry at his plight, first involved himself in politics, becoming an organizer for theUnion Labor Party, a local offshoot of the defunctGreenback Party (of which he had been a member). He ran as their candidate for the state legislature in 1886 and 1888, but was defeated by T. A. McNeal of the state's dominantRepublican Party.[3][4]
In 1889, the price ofcorn, the state's principal crop, dropped precipitously, and it was burned as fuel all across Kansas. Seizing the moment, remnants of theFarmers' Alliance organized into thePeople's Party, and Simpson joined on. At the convention of the Kansas People's Party, Simpson was easily nominated as the Party's candidate for Congress.
Simpson's Republican opponent was ColonelJames Reed Hallowell, often referred to as "Prince Hal", anattorney for arailroad who campaigned from the back of a private rail car. Simpson, campaigning on a populist platform ofpublic ownership of railroads, agraduated income tax, the abolition ofnational banks, and universalsuffrage, denounced Hallowell as a pampered scion of wealth, a Prince whose feet were "encased in finesilkhosiery." Hallowell fired back that having silksocks was better than having none at all. With the help of populist campaignerMary Elizabeth Lease, Simpson won a new nickname, "Sockless Jerry," and an 8,000-vote margin of victory in the race.[5]
In Congress, Simpson was a forceful advocate for populist causes and became nationally known as the party's congressional leader. In 1894, he was one of six congressmen to vote in favor of asingle tax amendment to theWilson–Gorman Tariff Act. Proposed by Democrat and fellowGeorgistJames G. Maguire of California, it was intended as a substitute for the bill's proposedincome tax. It would have levied a direct tax of $31,311,125 onland values nationwide.[6][7] After this was rejected, Simpson voted in favor of the original version of the bill,[8][9][10] butdid not vote on the final version sent back by the Senate several months later.[11][12]
In 1892, he was re-elected by a slim 2,000-vote majority, running slightly behindJames Weaver, the party'spresidential nominee, who had also managed to seize theDemocratic ballot line in Kansas. By 1894, however, the party's fortunes had already started to wane, and he was turned out of office in favor of RepublicanChester I. Long in a close race. Undaunted, Simpson returned in 1896, running hard against Long and upsetting him to win back his House seat. It didn't last, however, and Long defeated him once again in the election of 1898.[13]
Deciding that he had lost his taste for farming, Simpson moved toNew Mexico and took upreal estate. A few years later, he suffered a debilitatingbrain aneurysm. Realizing that he probably didn't have much time left, he boarded a train back to Kansas. He died in aWichita hospital on October 23, 1905. He is interred in Maple Grove Cemetery, Wichita.[14]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromKansas's 7th congressional district 1891 – 1895 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromKansas's 7th congressional district 1897 – 1899 | Succeeded by |
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