Selden Palmer Spencer | |
|---|---|
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| United States Senator fromMissouri | |
| In office November 6, 1918 – May 16, 1925 | |
| Preceded by | Xenophon P. Wilfley |
| Succeeded by | George H. Williams |
| Member of theMissouri House of Representatives | |
| In office 1895 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1862-09-16)September 16, 1862 Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | May 16, 1925(1925-05-16) (aged 62) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Resting place | Bellefontaine Cemetery |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse | Susan Mary (Brookes) Spencer |
| Children | 5 |
| Alma mater | Yale College Washington University in St. Louis |
| Profession | Lawyer, educator |
| Signature |  |
Selden Palmer Spencer (September 16, 1862 – May 16, 1925) was anAmerican lawyer and politician. ARepublican, he was aUnited States senator fromMissouri.
Selden Spencer was born inErie, Pennsylvania, to Samuel Selden and Eliza Deborah (Palmer) Spenser.[1] He received his basic education in Erie before attendingHopkins School, a college preparatory school inNew Haven, Connecticut.[2] Afterward Spencer attendedYale College, where he was an editor of the student newspaper and participated in Lacrosse. He graduated in 1884 with honors, seventh in a class of one hundred fifty.[3] He then moved toSt. Louis, Missouri, to attendWashington University School of Law graduating in 1886.[4]
Admitted to the bar in 1886, Spencer opened a law practice in St. Louis with future Missouri governorForrest Donnell while also serving as a professor ofmedical jurisprudence at theMissouri Medical College. The college later honored him with an honoraryM.D. degree in appreciation of his efforts.[2]Westminster College inFulton, Missouri, also granted him honoraryPh.D andLL.D degrees.[3]
Selden Spencer first held elected office in 1895 when he was voted a member of theMissouri House of Representatives. While in the Missouri House he was Chairman of the Committee on Banks and Banking, as well as on the Judiciary, Ways and Means, Militia, and Rules Committees.[3] From 1897 to 1903 he was a judge of theUnited States circuit court.[4] At the end of his term on the court Spencer returned to his law practice. He also became heavily involved with theAmerican Bar Association, serving on its executive board and as vice-president in 1914.[2] Spencer was a member of the Missouri State Militia, attaining the rank of captain. During World War I he was chairman of a St. Louis areadraft board.
The unexpected death of Missouri U.S. SenatorWilliam J. Stone in April, 1918 prompted Selden Spencer's return to political office.Xenophon P. Wilfley was appointed a temporary replacement until a special election could be held. In November, 1918 Spencer defeated former GovernorJoseph W. Folk with 52-percent of the vote[5] to fill the remaining two years of Stone's term. In 1920 Selden Spencer won reelection, first by defeating tennis star-turned-politicianDwight F. Davis in the Republican primary,[6] then DemocratBreckinridge Long by over 121,000 votes in the November general election.[7]
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Spencer was a supporter of theKorean independence movement, and wrote critically of Japan's violent suppression of Korea's peaceful 1919March First Movement protests.[8][9]
While in the Senate, he was chairman of theCommittee on Claims (Sixty-sixth andSixty-seventhCongresses) and a member of theCommittee on Indian Affairs (Sixty-seventh Congress) and theCommittee on Privileges and Elections (Sixty-seventh throughSixty-ninth Congresses).[4] Senator Spencer was also noted for being one of the Republicans in opposition to theTreaty of Versailles and America's participation in theLeague of Nations, working with SenatorHenry Cabot Lodge and theIrreconcilables. Senator Spencer made numerous speeches against the treaty while campaigning for fellow Republicans in 1920 and 1922.[2] Senator Selden P. Spencer died atWalter Reed Hospital inWashington, D.C., on May 16, 1925, following complications from hernia surgery.[2] He is buried inBellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis.
Media related toSelden P. Spencer at Wikimedia Commons| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Thomas J. Akins | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromMissouri (Class 3) 1918,1920 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 3) from Missouri 1918–1925 Served alongside:James A. Reed | Succeeded by |
| Class 1 |  | |
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| Class 3 | ||
Chairs of theUnited States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs | ||
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| Full Committee (1820–1947) | | |
| Select Committee (1977–1993) | ||
| Full Committee (1993–) | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
