William McKendree Springer
Springer, 1870–1880
Judge for the Northern District of theUnited States Court for the Indian Territory
In office 1895–1899
Appointed by	Grover Cleveland
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Joseph A. Gill
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives from Illinois
In office March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1895
Preceded by	James Carroll Robinson
Succeeded by	Vespasian Warner
Constituency	12th district (1875–83) 13th district (1883–95)
Member of theIllinois House of Representatives
In office 1871-1872
Personal details
Born	(1836-05-30)May 30, 1836 New Lebanon, Indiana, U.S.
Died	December 4, 1903(1903-12-04) (aged 67) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Party	Democratic
Signature

William McKendree Springer (May 30, 1836 – December 4, 1903) was an American attorney and politician who representedIllinois in theUnited States House of Representatives and served on theUnited States Court for the Indian Territory.

William McKendree Springer was born nearNew Lebanon,Sullivan County, Indiana, on May 30, 1836.^[1] He later moved west toJacksonville, Illinois, with his parents in 1848. He attended the localpublic schools New Lebanon and Jacksonville.^[2]

He attended theIllinois College atJacksonville, Illinois where he was a member of thePhi Alpha Literary Society.^[1] He left the college after defendingStephen A. Douglas and theKansas-Nebraska Act and finished a master's degree fromIndiana University atBloomington in 1858.^[3] He worked as a journalist,read the law, and was admitted to the bar in 1859 or 1861.^[2][3] He started his career in the state capital ofSpringfield, Illinois.^[3]

During theAmerican Civil War, he served as secretary of theIllinois State constitutional convention meeting in 1862 .^[2] He was a candidate for theIllinois Legislature in 1860 and 1864.^[1] At the young age of 26 he briefly served as assistant secretary of theIllinois Senate.^[4] Also during the war, he objected to the constitutionality ofincome taxes leading to theUnited States Supreme Court caseSpringer v. United States.^[3] He traveled toEurope between 1868 and 1871. After returning to America, he was elected to theIllinois House of Representatives in Springfield during 1871 and 1872.^[2]

Springer was first elected as aDemocrat in November 1874 to the44th United States Congress. He took the oath of office the following March, and was reelected for nine 2-year terms in the late19th century (March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1895). In Washington, he was chairman of the House Committee on Expenditures in theDepartment of State (44th and 45th Congresses), Committee on Elections (46th Congresses), Committee on Expenditures in theDepartment of Justice (48th Congress), Committee on Claims (49th Congress), Committee on Territories (50th Congress), Committee on Ways and Means (52nd Congress), Committee on Banking and Currency (53rd Congress).^[2]

During his time in Congress, he was involved in the investigation of election fraud during the1876 United States presidential election.^{[citation needed]} While on the Committee on Territories, Springer framed the bills that organized the newOklahoma Territory in 1889 and 1890.^{[citation needed]} He also helped create theUnited States Court for the Indian Territory. Springer drafted a legislative amendment to theIndian Appropriations Act of 1890 which became known as the Springer Amendment and began the process of placing the formerUnassigned Lands of the Indian Territory within the federal public domain for later distribution to homesteaders.^[3][5]

After two decades of service in Washington, he was defeated for reelection in 1894 due to the split betweenGold Democrats andSilver Democrats. He was appointed byDemocratic PresidentGrover Cleveland as a judge for theNorthern District of the United States Court for the Indian Territory.^[3] In 1899, Springer left his judicial post to establish private law offices in bothChicago and Washington, D.C. He also worked for the National Livestock Association as their capital affairs lobbyist, where he learned of the Kiowa Indian reserve's grasslands.^[4] He also represented theMuscogee Nation andCherokee Nation.^[3]

In 1901, Springer was hired by numerous Indians from theKiowa,Comanche, andApache Reservation to represent them in what became the federal court case ofLone Wolf v. Hitchcock, 187 U.S. 553 (1903).^{[citation needed]} Springer had aided in the writing of a memorial toRepublican then 26th PresidentTheodore Roosevelt (1857–1919, served 1901–1909), protesting the 1900 Act that resulted from theJerome Agreement between the Indians from the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Reservation and the members of theJerome Commission.^{[citation needed]} In theJerome Agreement, the tribes of the K.C.A. Reservation ceded most of their lands to the United States federal government who would then open it up for allotment to white settlers.^{[citation needed]} Lone Wolf asserted and Springer argued on his behalf in federal court that:

1. The Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Indians were fraudulently induced to sign the Jerome Agreement and those that did sign, did not fully understand its provisions vastly because, (like Lone Wolf), most of the Indians did not speak or understand very well of theEnglish language and relied on interpreters.^{[citation needed]}
2. The Jerome Agreement was not signed by three-fourths of the adult male members of the tribes as required by theMedicine Lodge Treaty. Lone Wolf alleged that the total number of Indian males exceeded the number claimed by the Indian Agent and that the1900 United States census showed there were 639 adult male members of the K.C.A. tribes on the reservation. Thus the Jerome Agreement was twenty-three signatures short of the required three-quarters majority amount.
3. The K.C.A. tribes had protested the agreement from the beginning.^{[citation needed]}
4. The version that was ratified by the U.S. Congress had been significantly altered and amended and the subsequent later changes made had not been resubmitted to the K.C.A. peoples for their approval. Judge Springer argued for Lone Wolf that the American Congress should not be able to unilaterally alter the provisions of the agreement without the Indians' mutual consent and thus the legislative Act should be rejected.^{[citation needed]}

On July 22, 1901, Springer, aided by sympathetic fellow attorneys Hays McMeehan, William C. Reeves, and Charles Porter Johnson, filed for a temporary restraining order and a permanent injunction halting the cession of territories and the opening of surplus lands after the members of the K.C.A. tribes had been given their individual allotments.^{[citation needed]} The request for the restraining order was denied by U.S. JudgeClinton F. Irwin.^{[citation needed]} Springer and his lawyer colleagues appealed to The Supreme Court for the District of Columbia in Washington where on June 21, 1901, JusticeAndrew Coyle Bradley denied again the K.C.A.'s application for a temporary injunction.^{[citation needed]} Springer appealed the District Court's decision to theU.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia where the decision in the lower courts was upheld once again on December 4, 1901, by Chief JusticeRichard H. Alvey.^{[citation needed]}

Finally, Springer, now aided by attorneyHampton Carson who was also hired by theIndian Rights Association, appealed to the full higherUnited States Supreme Court and where once again, he was unsuccessful in his appeal. On January 5, 1903, in a unanimous decision, the High Court affirmed the lower Court of Appeals and upheld the original Congressional action. The Court rejected the Indians' and Springer - Carson's argument that Congress' action was an unfair taking under theDue Process Clause of theFifth Amendment to theU.S. Constitution. JusticeEdward Douglass White described the Indians as the wards of the nation and matters involving Indian lands were the sole jurisdiction of the Congress. So the Congress, therefore, had the power to abrogate the provisions of an Indian treaty, including the two million acres change.^[6] JusticeJohn M. Harlan concurred in the judgment. This case maintained that the federal government had always had plenary power over native tribes and could unilaterally abrogate Indian treaty rights despite the protests of the tribes.^[7]

Springer died at age 67 frompneumonia at his home in Washington, D.C., on December 4, 1903, with notices and obituaries in numerous national newspapers.^[8] He was buried in theOak Ridge Cemetery, at the state capitalSpringfield, Illinois.^[2]

Wikisource has the text of a 1905New International Encyclopedia article about "William McKendree Springer".

• United States Congress."William McKendree Springer (id: S000757)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• William McKendree Springer atFind a Grave

• 1836 births
• 1903 deaths
• Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives
• Illinois lawyers
• Illinois College alumni
• Indiana University Bloomington alumni
• Indian Territory judges
• Politicians from Jacksonville, Illinois
• Politicians from Springfield, Illinois
• United States federal judges appointed by Grover Cleveland
• Democratic Party United States representatives from Illinois
• 19th-century United States representatives
• 19th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly

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