Samuel Douglas McEnery | |
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United States Senator from Louisiana |
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In office March 4, 1897 – June 28, 1910 |
|
Preceded by | Newton C. Blanchard |
Succeeded by | John Thornton |
30th Governor of Louisiana | |
In office October 16, 1881 – May 20, 1888 |
|
Lieutenant |
W.A. Robertson George L. Walton Clay Knobloch |
Preceded by | Louis A. Wiltz |
Succeeded by | Francis T. Nicholls |
16th Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana | |
In office January 14, 1880 – October 16, 1881 |
|
Governor | Louis A. Wiltz |
Preceded by | Louis A. Wiltz |
Succeeded by | W. A. Robertson |
Personal details | |
Born |
Monroe, Louisiana |
May 28, 1837
Died | June 28, 1910 New Orleans, Louisiana |
(aged 73)
Political party | Democratic |
Alma mater | Spring Hill College United States Naval Academy University of Virginia State and National Law School (New York) |
Religion | Roman Catholic |
Samuel Douglas McEnery (May 28, 1837 – June 28, 1910) served as the 30th Governor of Louisiana from 1881 until 1888, and as a United States Senator from 1897 until 1910. He was the brother of John McEnery, one of the candidates in the contested 1872 election for Louisiana Governor.
McEnery was born in Monroe, Louisiana. He attended Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and the University of Virginia at Charlottesville. In 1859, McEnery graduated from the State and National Law School in Poughkeepsie, New York. McEnery served as a lieutenant in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War.
In 1866, McEnery began practicing law in Monroe. He was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1879, and became Governor of Louisiana in 1881 after the death of Louis A. Wiltz. McEnery was elected to a full term as governor in 1884, but failed to be re-elected in 1888. McEnery's administration was weak because of the power wielded by the State Treasurer Edward A. Burke and the corrupt Louisiana State Lottery Company. Despite Louisiana's Roman Catholic plurality (and majority in Acadiana and many of the southern parishes of the state), McEnery was the last Catholic to be elected governor prior to Edwin Edwards (nominated 1971, elected and inaugurated 1972).