John Morton Eshleman | |
|---|---|
 Eshleman,c. 1915 | |
| 26thLieutenant Governor of California | |
| In office January 5, 1915 – February 28, 1916 | |
| Governor | Hiram Johnson |
| Preceded by | Albert Joseph Wallace |
| Succeeded by | William Stephens |
| Member of theCalifornia State Assembly from the52nd district | |
| In office January 7, 1907 – January 4, 1909 | |
| Preceded by | William H. Waste |
| Succeeded by | C. C. Young |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1876-06-14)June 14, 1876 |
| Died | February 28, 1916(1916-02-28) (aged 39) |
| Party | Republican Progressive |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Ledgett |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | University of California, Berkeley |
John Morton Eshleman (June 14, 1876 – February 28, 1916) was an Americanlawyer and politician fromCalifornia. He was the 26thlieutenant governor of California from 1915 to 1916.
A native of the Midwest, Eshleman was born inVilla Ridge,Illinois, but went west in 1896 to work on theSouthern Pacific Railroad.[1] Eshleman received hisBachelor of Arts from theUniversity of California, Berkeley in 1902, and the next year he received hisMaster of Arts there.[2] At Berkeley, he was president of the student government. Eshleman was admitted to theCalifornia Bar in 1905 and was appointed Deputy State Labor Commissioner by GovernorGeorge Pardee.
Eshleman ran for the state legislature on aRepublican andUnion-Labor ticket and was elected to the 38thCalifornia Assembly from the 52d District (Berkeley) in 1907.[3] Though appointed Deputy District Attorney ofAlameda County, he did not serve, moving instead to theImperial Valley inSouthern California for the dry air because of his poor health. WhenImperial County was created from the eastern part ofSan Diego County in August 1907, Eshleman was chosen to be the firstDistrict Attorney of the county, serving from 1907 to 1910.[1]
In 1910, Eshleman was elected to the third district seat on theCalifornia Railroad Commission with the backing of the progressiveLincoln-Roosevelt League.[4] He was subsequently elected chair of the commission upon taking office in 1911.[5] Eshleman was elected Lieutenant Governor as aProgressive in1914. Inaugurated January 5, 1915, he served until his death under GovernorHiram Johnson. Eshleman died in 1916 inIndio, California, after a long battle withtuberculosis, and was buried inInglewood Park Cemetery inInglewood, California. His remains were moved to Sunset View Cemetery inEl Cerrito, California, in 1956. Johnson appointedWilliam Stephens to replace Eshleman as lieutenant governor. Eshleman also served as anex officio regent of theUniversity of California by virtue of his office as lieutenant governor.
The student union at UC Berkeley was named Eshleman Hall in his honor; this building was later renamedMoses Hall. A new building (1965) called Eshleman Hall was subsequently erected, which housed various student groups including the campus newspaper,The Daily Californian. Eshleman Hall was demolished in the summer of 2013 and rebuilt in 2015.[6]
Eshleman married Elizabeth Ledgett in 1906. His son, also named John Morton "Jack", was a newspaper reporter and wrote detective novels set in the Bay Area. Jack was an activist for labor rights and, duringWorld War II, helped bring about the demise of "auxiliary" (segregated) unions in the Kaiser shipyards. His daughter, Jane Eshleman Conant, was a pioneering woman writer for San Francisco newspapers from 1941 to 1976. Eshleman also had two other children, Kathryn Eshleman Wahl, a women's editor at theOakland Tribune, and Robert T. Eshleman, a prominent Bay Area attorney. His daughters were the first two women's editors atThe Daily Californian, which was housed in the original building named for their father.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | California State Assemblyman, 52nd District 1907–1909 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of California 1915–1916 | Succeeded by |
