William Goebel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William J. Goebel
34th Governor of Kentucky
In office January 31, 1900 – February 3, 1900
Lieutenant(s)	J. C. W. Beckham
Preceded by	William S. Taylor
Succeeded by	J. C. W. Beckham
President Pro Tempore of the Kentucky Senate
In office 1896 – 1900
Born	January 4, 1856 Carbondale, Pennsylvania[1]
Died	February 3, 1900 Frankfort, Kentucky
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	None[2]
Profession	Lawyer

William J. Goebel (January 4, 1856 – February 3, 1900)^[3] was a controversial American politician who served as governor of Kentucky for a few days in 1900 before being assassinated. Goebel remains the only state governor in the United States to die in office from assassination.^[4]

Goebel was never known as a particularly genial person in public, nor as a gifted public speaker, eschewing flowery imagery and relying on his deep, powerful voice and forceful delivery to drive home his points. Perhaps because of his stern demeanor, Goebel was rarely linked romantically with a woman,^[5] and is the only governor of Kentucky to never marry.^[1]

What he lacked in oratory prowess and personal manner, he made up for in organizational skills. Goebel was well able to broker deals with fellow lawmakers, and equally able and willing to break them if a better deal came along. His tendency to utilize the state's political machinery earned him, at various times, the nicknames "Boss Bill," "the Kenton King," "Kenton Czar," "King William I," and "William the Conqueror."^[5]

Contents 1 Early life 2 Political career 2.1 Duel with John Sanford 2.2 The Goebel Election Law 2.3 Gubernatorial election of 1900 3 Assassination and aftermath 3.1 Resolution of the election 3.2 Trials and investigations 4 See also 5 References

[edit] Early life

Wilhelm Justus Goebel was born January 4, 1856 in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, the son of William and Augusta Goebel, immigrants from Hannover, Germany. The first of four Goebel children, he was born two months premature, and weighed less than three pounds. While his father served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, Goebel's mother raised the children alone, teaching them much about their German heritage. Young William spoke German until the age of six.^[5]

Goebel's father moved the family to Covington, Kentucky on his return from military service in 1863. He attended school in Covington, and eventually became an apprentice to a jeweler in Cincinnati, Ohio. He eventually abandoned that trade, and after a brief stint at Hollingsworth Business College, began studying law under former Kentucky governor John W. Stevenson. After graduating from Cincinnati Law School in 1877, Goebel enrolled at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, but withdrew to support his family after the death of his father. After a few years of private practice, Goebel partnered with Kentucky state representative John G. Carlisle for five years, then rejoined Stevenson's practice in Covington.^[1]

[edit] Political career

In 1887, James W. Bryan vacated his seat as state senator to pursue the office of lieutenant governor. Goebel decided to seek election to the vacant seat representing the Covington area. His platform of railroad regulation and championing labor causes, combined with the influence of Stevenson, his former partner, should have given Goebel an easy victory, but this was not to be. A third political party, the Union Labor party, had risen to power in the area with a platform similar to Goebel's. However, while Goebel had to stick close to his allies in the Democratic party, the Union Labor party courted the vote of Republicans, and made the election close – decided in Goebel's favor by a mere fifty-six votes.^[5]

With only the two years remaining in former senator Bryan's term to distinguish himself before a re-election bid, Goebel took aim at a large and popular target: the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. A proposal from pro-railroad legislators in the Kentucky House of Representatives to abolish Kentucky's Railroad Commission was passed and sent to the Senate. Senator Cassius M. Clay responded by proposing a committee to investigate lobbying by the railroad industry. Goebel served on the committee, which uncovered significant violations by the railroad lobby.^[6] Further, Goebel helped defeat the bill to abolish the Railroad Commission in the Senate. These actions made him a hero in his district. He ran for a full term as senator unopposed in 1889, and won another term in 1893 by a three-to-one margin over his Republican opponent.^[5]

In 1890, Goebel was a delegate to Kentucky's fourth constitutional convention.^[7] That convention eventually produced the fourth and current Kentucky Constitution.^[8] Despite the high honor of being chosen as a delegate, Goebel showed little interest in participating in the process of creating a new constitution. The convention was in session for 250 days; Goebel was present for just 100 of them.^[5] He did, however, show up enough to successfully secure the inclusion of the Railroad Commission in the new constitution. As a constitutional entity, the Commission could only be abolished by an amendment ratified by popular vote. This would effectively protect the Commission from ever being unilaterally dismantled by the General Assembly.^[6]

[edit] Duel with John Sanford

In 1895, Goebel engaged in what many observers considered a duel with General John Lawrence Sanford. Sanford, an ex-Confederate and politician turned banker, had butted heads with Goebel before. Goebel's successful campaign to remove tolls from some of Kentucky's turnpikes had cost Sanford a good deal of money. Later, it was widely believed that Sanford blocked Goebel's appointment to the Kentucky Court of Appeals, then the highest court in the state. ^[9] In response to this, Goebel had written an article in a local newspaper referring to Sanford as "Gonorrhea John."^[10]

The duel occurred as Goebel and two of his acquaintances went to cash a check in Covington. Goebel suggested they avoid Sanford's bank, but Sanford, standing outside the bank, engaged the trio in conversation before they could cross the street to another establishment. As he greeted Goebel's friends, he shook hands with his left hand, his right remaining on a pistol in his pocket. Goebel, noticing this and being likewise armed, clutched the pistol in his own pocket. Sanford asked Goebel, "I understand that you assume authorship of that article?" "I do," replied Goebel. Witnesses agree that both men fired their guns, but none could tell who fired first. Goebel was uninjured, the bullet passing through his coat and ripping his trousers, while Sanford was hit in the head. He died five hours later.^[9] Though Goebel was acquitted, pleading self-defense, the incident would haunt his future political career.^[5] The acquittal was also significant, however, because of prohibitions against duelling in the Kentucky Constitution. Had Goebel been convicted, he would not have been eligible to hold public office.^[11]

[edit] The Goebel Election Law

Despite rising to the office of President Pro Tempore in 1896, Goebel became the subject of much opposition in the politics of Kentucky after the passing of the so-called "Goebel Election Law." Democrats, who controlled the General Assembly, felt that county election commissioners had been unjust in selecting local election officials, and that this injustice had contributed to the election of Republican governor William O. Bradley in 1895 and Republican president William McKinley in 1896. Goebel's bill, which passed along sharp party lines and over Governor Bradley's veto, created a three-member state election commission, appointed by the General Assembly, to select county election commissioners. This system, however, proved to be just as manipulable as the one it replaced, allowing the Democrat-controlled General Assembly to appoint fellow Democrats to the election commission.^[6]

[edit] Gubernatorial election of 1900

Three men sought the Democratic nomination for governor at the 1899 party convention in Louisville — Goebel, Wat Hardin, and William J. Stone. When Hardin proved the front-runner for the nomination, Stone and Goebel agreed to work together against Hardin. Stone's supporters would back whomever Goebel picked to preside over the convention; in exchange, half of the delegates from Louisville, who were pledged to Goebel, would vote for Stone. Goebel would then drop out of the race, but would be allowed to name many of the other officials on the ticket. When the plan was exposed, Hardin dropped out of the race.^[5]

But Goebel took a calculated risk, reneging on the agreement once his man was installed as presiding officer. Hardin, seeing that Stone had been stabbed in the back, re-entered the fray. After several chaotic ballots resulted in no clear majority for any of the three, Goebel's hand-picked chairman announced that the man with the lowest vote total in the next canvass would be dropped from the ballot. That turned out to be Stone. This put Stone's supporters in a difficult position. They were now forced to choose between Hardin, who was seen as being a pawn of the railroad industry, or Goebel, who had just turned on their man.^[5] In the end, enough sided with Goebel to give him the nomination, but Goebel's tactic fractured the party. A disgruntled faction calling themselves the "Honest Election Democrats" held a separate convention in Lexington and nominated John Y. Brown for governor.^[6]

In the general election, Republican William S. Taylor defeated both Democratic candidates, but his margin over Goebel was a mere 2,383 votes.^[10] Democrats in the General Assembly began leveling accusations of voting irregularities, but in a surprise decision, the Board of Elections created by the Goebel Election Law and manned by three hand-picked Goebel Democrats, ruled 2-1 in favor of Taylor. Under the Kentucky Constitution, however, the power to review the election lay with the Democrat-controlled General Assembly, who invalidated enough votes to give the election to Goebel. The Republican minority was incensed, as were voters in traditionally Republican districts. For several days, the state hovered on the brink of civil war.^[6]

[edit] Assassination and aftermath

While the election results remained in dispute, Goebel, despite being warned that there were rumors of an assassination plot against him, walked without bodyguards to the Old State Capitol the morning of January 30, 1900. Reports conflict about what happened next, but five or six shots were fired from the nearby State Building, the first striking Goebel in the chest. Taylor, serving as governor pending a final decision on the election, called out the militia and ordered the General Assembly into a special session, not in Frankfort, but in London, Kentucky, a Republican area.^[10] The Republican minority naturally heeded the call and headed to London. Democrats predictably resisted the call, many retiring to Louisville instead. Both factions claimed authority, but the Republicans were too few in number to muster a quorum.^[9]

One day after being shot, Goebel, lying upon his back in ill health, was sworn in as governor. In his only act in that capacity, Goebel signed a proclamation to dissolve the militia called up by Taylor, an order which was not heeded by the force's Republican commander. Despite the ministrations of 18 physicians, Goebel died the afternoon of February 3, 1900. Sympathetic journalists recalled his heroic last words as "Tell my friends to be brave, fearless, and loyal to the common people." Skeptic Irvin S. Cobb uncovered another story from some in the room at the time. On having ingested his last meal, the fallen governor supposedly remarked "Doc, that was a damned bad oyster." In a final act of defiance, the governor's body was carried from its viewing in his hometown of Covington, north to Cincinnati, then south to Frankfort on the Queen and Crescent rail line, avoiding the direct route provided by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.^[5]

[edit] Resolution of the election

With Goebel dead, cooler heads eventually prevailed. The idea of Beckham as governor was more palatable to much of the opposition than civil war in the state, though many of them may have preferred war to a Goebel governorship. After a lengthy meeting, a bipartisan compromise was drafted which would have ended the matter. The terms called for Republican recognition of Goebel's rightful election (and Beckham's subsequent right to govern). Republicans would also remove the militia from Frankfort. Democrats would, in turn, extend immunity to any Republican official found to have ties to the assassination, stop contesting elections for other state offices, and work to pass a nonpartisan election reform bill. The agreement needed only Taylor's signature to become effective. Unwilling to relinquish his office, Taylor balked.^[5]

Compromise having been exhausted, both sides agreed to adjudicate the matter. The Kentucky Court of Appeals found that the General Assembly had acted legally in declaring Goebel the winner of the election. That decision was appealed to the Supreme Court. Arguments were presented April 30, 1900, and on May 21, the justices decided 8-1 not to hear the case, allowing the Court of Appeals' decision to stand.^[12] The lone dissension was that of Associate Justice John Marshall Harlan, a Kentucky native.^[9]

[edit] Trials and investigations

During the ensuing assassination investigation, suspicion naturally focused on deposed governor Taylor, but with an indictment looming, he fled to Indianapolis, Indiana.^[7] The governor of Indiana refused to extradite Taylor, and he was never able to be questioned about his knowledge of the plot to kill Goebel. Taylor became a successful lawyer in Indiana, and was pardoned in 1909 by Republican governor Augustus E. Willson.^[10]

Sixteen people, including Taylor, were eventually indicted in the assassination of Governor Goebel. Three accepted immunity from prosecution in exchange for testimony. Only 5 ever went to trial, two of those being acquitted.^[4] Convictions were handed down against Taylor's Secretary of State Caleb Powers, Henry Youtsey, and Jim Howard. The prosecution charged that Powers was the mastermind, having a political opponent killed so that his boss, Governor Taylor, could stay in office. Youtsey was an alleged intermediary, and Howard, who was said to have been in Frankfort to seek a pardon from Taylor for the killing of a man in a family feud^[10], was accused of being the actual assassin.^[4]

The trials were fraught with irregularities, however. All three judges were pro-Goebel Democrats^[10], and at one point the juror pool of 368 people was found to have only 8 Republicans. Republican appeals courts overturned Powers' and Howard's convictions, though Howard was tried and convicted twice more, and Powers was tried three more times, resulting in two convictions and a hung jury. Both men were pardoned in 1908 by Governor Augustus E. Willson. Youtsey, who received a life sentence did not appeal, turned state's evidence, and was paroled in 1916.^[4] Youtsey was pardoned in 1919 by Democratic governor James D. Black.^[10]

To this day, historians do not know exactly who shot Governor Goebel, and most agree that no one ever will.^[4]

[edit] See also

• History of Kentucky

[edit] References

Preceded by William S. Taylor

Governor of Kentucky 1900

Succeeded by J. C. W. Beckham

Governors of Kentucky

Shelby • Garrard • Greenup • Scott • Shelby • Madison • Slaughter • Adair • Desha • Metcalfe • J. Breathitt • J. Morehead • Clark • Wickliffe • Letcher • Owsley • Crittenden • Helm • Powell • C. Morehead • Magoffin • Robinson • Bramlette • Helm • Stevenson • Leslie • McCreary • Blackburn • Knott • Buckner • Brown • Bradley • Taylor • Goebel • Beckham • Willson • McCreary • Stanley • Black • Morrow • Fields • Sampson • Laffoon • Chandler • Johnson • Willis • Clements • Wetherby • Chandler • Combs • E. Breathitt • Nunn • Ford • Carroll • Brown Jr. • Collins • Wilkinson • Jones • Patton • Fletcher Kentucky also had two Confederate Governors: George W. Johnson and Richard Hawes.

Persondata
NAME	Goebel, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Goebel, Wilhelm
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Governor of Kentucky
DATE OF BIRTH	January 4, 1856
PLACE OF BIRTH	Carbondale, Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH	February 3, 1900
PLACE OF DEATH	Frankfort, Kentucky