William D. Denney
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The Honorable William D. Denney |
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|---|---|
| 56th Governor of Delaware | |
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In office January 18, 1921 – January 20, 1925 |
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| Lieutenant | J. Danforth Bush |
| Preceded by | John G. Townsend, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Robert P. Robinson |
| Member of the Delaware House of Representatives | |
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In office January 10, 1905 - January 8, 1907 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
March 31, 1873 Dover, Delaware |
| Died | November 21, 1953 (aged 80) Elsmere, Delaware |
| Resting place | Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery Dover, Delaware |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Alice Godwin (1888–1980) |
| Residence | Dover, Delaware |
| Alma mater | Wesleyan Collegiate Institute |
| Occupation | businessman |
| Religion | Episcopalian |
William duHamel Denney (March 31, 1873 – November 21, 1953) was an American businessman and politician from Dover, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a veteran of World War I and member of the Republican Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and as Governor of Delaware.
Denney was born near Dover, Delaware, son of William and Anna DuHamel Denney. He married Alice Godwin October 27, 1917, and they had two children, Alice and Anne. They lived at 201 Williams Street in Dover and were members of Christ Episcopal Church. Denney attended the Wesleyan Collegiate Institute in Dover.
He made his professional career in the insurance business, becoming the General Agent of the Hartford Insurance Company in 1908 and was a partner in the W. Charles Boyer’s Dover Insurance Agency. During World War I he left his job and served in the U.S. Army. Rising to the rank of first lieutenant, he was ordered to go to France, but three times had the orders cancelled, and never went.
Denney served one term in the Delaware House of Representatives, during the 1905-06 session, and was chosen as Speaker. He was the personal secretary to Delaware U.S. Senator Harry A. Richardson from 1907 until 1913. In 1920 he was elected Governor of Delaware, defeating the Democratic Party candidate, Andrew J. Lynch, a Georgetown lawyer.
The 1921 session saw a renewed struggle over public education. In the previous session, the far reaching, innovative legislation known as the “School Code of 1919” was enacted. This act completely reworked public education in Delaware by empowering a state superintendent to set standards, consolidated hundreds of tiny local school districts into countywide districts, established a 180-day school year, and provided for a County board of education to appropriate funding through the county property tax. It was hotly debated then, and only narrowly passed. The opponents were poised to repeal the whole legislation in 1921, but through much effort, proponents managed a compromise, the “School Law of 1921”. It lessened the standards, including the 180-day school year, but most importantly moved the funding from the counties to the state through an income tax. To manage that funding, it replaced the county boards of education with a State board of education and a State School Tax Commissioner. The whole effort was a personal mission of Pierre S. du Pont. He was prominent among those who persuasively argued its passage, not only in the General Assembly, but in hundreds of small gatherings around the state. And it was his personal $5,000,000 contribution, given over 20 years, which made possible much of the reconstruction of suitable buildings to meet the standards established.
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