Silas Woodson (May 18, 1819October 9, 1896) was the 21st Governor of Missouri between January 3, 1873, and January 12, 1875. He was notable for being the first Democrat elected to that position since the Civil War. No Republican would reach the office for over 30 years after Woodson's election.

Early life

Woodson was born in Barbourville, Kentucky, to mother Alice (Chick), and father Wade Netherland Woodson

He was the most outspoken opponent of slavery at Kentucky's 1849 constitutional convention and left the state after the passage of the 1850 constitution enshrined it in state law.

Woodson became a lawyer. In 1846 he became partners with Samuel Freeman Miller. Woodson gained a reputation as a trial lawyer. On June 20, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln nominated Woodson as Chief Justice of the Idaho Territorial Supreme Court. The senate judiciary committee reported Woodson's nomination adversely, and the senate laid his nomination on the table on June 30. After congress adjourned, Lincoln gave Woodson a recess appointment to the position on July 28, 1864. He resigned his commission in January 1865, without having set foot in the Idaho Territory.

Political career

Woodson had made one previously unsuccessful attempt for the Missouri Legislature in 1868, but was chosen to run in 1873 against Republican Senator John B. Henderson. Woodson beat Henderson 156,777 votes to 121,889.

Death

Woodson died in St. Joseph, Missouri. He is buried there at the Mount Mora Cemetery. His headstone was vandalized in October 2006.

References

  • Missouri State Archives Finding Aid 3.21 http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/findingaids/rg003-21.pdf
  • "GOVERNOR SILAS WOODSON" page, "The Woodsons and Their Connections," Volume 1, pages 103, 104, and 105, compiled and published by Henry Morton Woodson, 1915 online at: http://woodsonfamilypage.0catch.com/GovernorSilasWoodson.html
  • "Descendants of Wade Netherland Woodson and Mary Harris Woodson and Alice Cheek Woodson" page, Cobb-Sasser Family Lineage site http://cobbsasser.com/WoodsnWadeMryHarisAlCheek.html
  • The following article about his law partner in Barbourville, Kentucky contains information about Woodson too: Michael Ross, "Hill Country Doctor: The Early Life and Career of Supreme Court Justice Samuel F. Miller in Kentucky, 1816–1849," The Filson History Quarterly, Vol. 71 (October 1997): 430–462.