Shelby M. Cullom | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Cullom, 1860–1875 | |
| 23rdDean of the United States Senate | |
| In office April 27, 1911 – March 3, 1913 | |
| Preceded by | William P. Frye |
| Succeeded by | Jacob Harold Gallinger |
| Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference | |
| In office April 1911 – March 3, 1913 | |
| Preceded by | Eugene Hale |
| Succeeded by | Jacob Harold Gallinger |
| United States Senator fromIllinois | |
| In office March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1913 | |
| Preceded by | David Davis |
| Succeeded by | J. Hamilton Lewis |
| 17th Governor of Illinois | |
| In office January 8, 1877 – February 16, 1883 | |
| Lieutenant | Andrew Shuman John M. Hamilton |
| Preceded by | John L. Beveridge |
| Succeeded by | John M. Hamilton |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromIllinois's8th district | |
| In office March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1871 | |
| Preceded by | John T. Stuart |
| Succeeded by | James C. Robinson |
| Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives | |
| In office 1873–1875 | |
| Preceded by | William M. Smith |
| Succeeded by | Elijah Haines |
| In office 1861–1863 | |
| Preceded by | William Ralls Morrison |
| Succeeded by | Samuel A. Buckmaster |
| Member of theIllinois House of Representatives | |
| In office 1873–1875 | |
| In office 1860–1863 | |
| In office 1856–1857 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 22, 1829 Monticello, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | January 28, 1914(1914-01-28) (aged 84) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Resting place | Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3 |
| Profession | Attorney |
| Signature |  |
Shelby Moore Cullom (November 22, 1829 – January 28, 1914) was an American politician who served in theUnited States House of Representatives, theUnited States Senate and as the17th Governor of Illinois. He was Illinois's longest serving senator.
Cullom was born in 1829 inMonticello, Kentucky, a son of Richard Northcraft Cullom and Elizabeth G. "Betsey" (Coffey) Cullom. He moved with his family a year later toTazewell County, Illinois. During his youth, Cullom assisted his father with farm labor. Cullom attended theMount Morris Seminary for two years and became a teacher. Cullom's father served as aWhig member of the state legislature, so Cullom became interested in politics. He moved toSpringfield, Illinois in 1853, where he studied law withStuart &Edwards and was admitted to the bar in 1855.[1] He practiced law in Springfield withCharles S. Zane, and was electedcity attorney in 1855.
Cullom was elected to theIllinois House of Representatives as a Whig in 1856, serving one term. With the disintegration of the Whig party, Cullom identified with both theRepublican and theAmerican parties. He was a candidate for elector on the American party ticket during the1856 election. In 1860, he was re-elected to the Illinois House as a Republican, and served asSpeaker.[1]
In 1855, he married Hannah Fisher.[2] She died in 1861, and in 1863 he married her sister Julia.[3] They were married until her death in 1909.[2] With first wife, Cullom was the father of an infant who died at birth in 1861 and was not named, as well as daughters Ella Cullom Ridgely (1856–1902) and Catherine Cullom Hardie (1859–1894).
He was elected in 1864 to theThirty-ninth, and reelected to theFortieth andForty-firstCongresses (March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1871).[1] In 1870, he lost renomination, falling one vote short at a party convention that lasted 186 ballots over five days.[4] Cullom returned to the Illinois House from 1873 to 1874, serving again as Speaker.[1] In 1876, he was electedGovernor of Illinois, defeatingLewis Steward by 6,834 votes. He was re-elected in 1880, becoming the first Illinois governor to be re-elected after a four-year term.[5] Under Cullom's governorship, theSouthern Illinois Penitentiary was commissioned, theGreat Railroad Strike of 1877 was quelled, theIllinois Appellate Court was founded, and theIllinois State Board of Health was established.[6] He resigned in 1883 to take office as a US senator;Lieutenant GovernorJohn Marshall Hamilton assumed the governorship in his place. Cullom was elected to theUnited States Senate in 1882, and reelected in 1888, 1894, 1900 and 1906, serving from March 4, 1883, to March 3, 1913.[7] As a Senator, Cullom oversaw the passage of theInterstate Commerce Act of 1887. He believed that only the federal government had the power to force railroads to provide fair treatment to all of its customers, large and small. This was because corporations, such asStandard Oil, had corrupted many of the railroads' officials into providing them with rebates, and as a whole, the companies in question were more powerful than any state government.
Cullom had an interest in theterritories of the United States of the time. Together with CongressmanIsaac S. Struble, Cullom pushed theCullom-Struble Bill, whose sanctions againstpolygamy included exclusion of theUtah Territory from statehood. The bill was on the verge of passing Congress in 1890, but the legislation was preempted whenthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) formally disavowed polygamous marriages with the1890 Manifesto.[8] Cullom was appointed by PresidentWilliam McKinley in July 1898 to the commission created by theNewlands Resolution to establish government in theTerritory of Hawaii.
He died in 1914 inWashington, D.C., and is buried inOak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield. Cullom was a close personal friend and associate ofJacob Bunn andJohn Whitfield Bunn, the Illinois industrialist brothers who contributed to the building of hundreds of millions of dollars of business enterprises by 1900. The village ofCullom, Illinois,[9] is named in his honor.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forGovernor of Illinois 1876,1880 | Succeeded by Richard J. Oglesby |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromIllinois's 8th congressional district 1865–1871 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Illinois 1877–1883 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | Class 2 U.S. Senator from Illinois 1883–1913 | Succeeded by |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Dean of the United States Senate August 8, 1911 – March 3, 1913 | Succeeded by |
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| Class 3 | ||
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| Commerce and Manufactures (1816–1825) |  | |
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| Commerce (1825–1947) | ||
| Interstate Commerce (1887–1947) | ||
| Interstate and Foreign Commerce/Commerce (1947–1977) | ||
| Commerce, Science, and Transportation (1977–present) | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
