- Francis G. Newlands
Infobox Senator
name = Francis G. Newlands
jr/sr =United States Senator
state=Nevada
party =Democratic
term_start = March 4, 1903
term_end = December 24, 1917
alongside =
preceded =John P. Jones
succeeded =Charles B. Henderson
office2=Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Nevada's At-Large district
term_start2=March 4, 1893
term_end2=March 3, 1903
predecessor2=Horace F. Bartine
successor2=Clarence D. Van Duzer
date of birth = birth date|1848|8|28
place of birth = Natchez,Mississippi
dead = dead
date of death = death date and age|1917|12|24|1848|8|28
place of death=Washington, D.C.
residence= Reno
spouse = Clara Adelaide Sharon
profession=Attorney ,Politician
religion=Francis Griffith Newlands was born in Natchez, Adams County,
Mississippi , on August 28, 1848, the son of James Birney Newlands (Scotland – Quincy, Adams County,Illinois , 1851) and wife Jessie Barland (Scotland – living in 1867), who married secondlyEbenezer Moore ,Mayor of Quincy, Adams County,Illinois , who died in October, 1866.He studied at Yale University and the Columbian College Law School (now the
George Washington University Law School ),Washington, D.C. and was admitted to the bar in 1869. He moved to San Francisco, California in 1870 and came to work forWilliam Sharon , one of the discoverers of theComstock Lode inVirginia City ,Storey County ,Nevada , who later also became Newlands's father-in-law, through the marriage inSan Francisco ,California , on November 19, 1874 to his daughter Clara Adelaide Sharon (San Francisco ,California , 1854 –San Francisco ,California , February 17, 1882). Their daughter Frances Newlands (San Francisco ,California , November 21, 1880 –Berlin , August 21, 1907) married atWashington, D.C. , May 6, 1905 Leopold Waldemar von Bredow (Bredow beiNauen , October 31, 1875 –Lausanne , October 1, 1933), and they were the maternal grandparents ofChris Strachwitz . [http://www.wargs.com/noble/strachwitz.html Ancestry of Chris Strachwitz]In 1888 he moved to
Nevada to serve Sharon's interests and continued to practice law. He served as a Democratic Representative for Nevada between 1893 and 1903.While a
congressman , he wrote theNewlands Resolution , which was an act of theUnited States Congress to annex the Republic of Hawai'i and create the Territory of Hawai'i.It was approved on July 4, 1898 and signed on July 7 by
President of the United States William McKinley . Newlands became well known for his support ofirrigation ,land reclamation as well asfree silver . Newlands is most famous for the 1902Newlands Reclamation Act , which funded irrigation projects throughout much of theAmerican West .Later he became a Democratic
United States Senator for Nevada in 1903 and served until his death atWashington, D.C. on December 24, 1917.Newlands's former mansion in Reno would later become a local landmark. Many famous people, such as
Barbara Hutton in 1935, stayed at the house while awaiting theirdivorce paperwork to be finalized by George Thatcher, a locallawyer who had purchased the building.In the late 1880s, Newlands and his partners began the aggressive acquisition of farmland in northwestern Washington, D.C. and southern
Montgomery County, Maryland , for the purpose of developing a residentialstreetcar suburb forWashington, D.C. . (SeeWashington streetcars .) They founded the Chevy Chase Land Company in 1890, and its eventual holdings are now known asChevy Chase, Washington, D.C. andChevy Chase, Maryland .References
* [http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/nevada/sen.htm NPS: Newlands]
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