James Ponder

Infobox Officeholder
honorific-prefix =
name = James Ponder
honorific-suffix =


imagesize =
small

office = Governor of Delaware
term_start = January 17 1871
term_end = January 19 1875
predecessor = Gove Saulsbury
successor = John P. Cochran
birth_date = birth date|1819|10|31|mf=y
birth_place = Milton, Delaware
death_date = death date and age|1897|11|5|1819|10|31
death_place = Milton, Delaware
spouse = Sallie Waples
party = Democratic
residence = Milton, Delaware
alma_mater =
occupation = merchant
profession =
religion = Episcopalian

James Ponder (October 31 1819 – November 5 1897) was an American merchant and politician from Milton, in Sussex County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and as Governor of Delaware.

Early life and family

Ponder was born October 31 1819 near Milton, Delaware, son of John and Hester Milby Ponder. He married Sallie Waples in 1851 and had four children: Ida, John, James Waples, and Anna. They lived at 414 Federal Street and were members of St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in Milton. He inherited his father’s business and expanded it into shipbuilding, agriculture, and banking.

Political career

Ponder was elected to the State House for the 1857/58 session and then to the State Senate for the 1865/66 and 1867/68 sessions. He was Speaker during the 1867/68 session. In 1870 he was elected Governor of Delaware, defeating the Republican candidate, Thomas Boone Coursey. He served from January 17 1871 until January 19 1875.

The election of 1870 was the first opportunity for African-Americans to vote in Delaware elections, and Ponder’s tenure was marred by an ongoing response to this change. Ponder himself was in no way sympathetic, saying to the General Assembly that the Federal government was wrong in extending the franchise to “uneducated Negroes.” The 1870 election featured rigged voter lists that effectively denied the vote to most African-Americans, and resulted in all the seats in the General Assembly going to the Democratic Party. Two years later, in response, U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant sent in federal troops to police the elections, winning a few elections for Republicans, but undoubtedly prolonging the bitterness felt towards the federal government and their Republican followers in Delaware. The immediate result was the passage of a poll tax and the “Assessment Act of 1873,” that effectively allowed tax collectors the ability to remove people from voter list, allegedly for not paying their taxes, and made it enormously complicated for the voter to have their name restored.

Ponder’s term also featured the expansion of state offices into all of what is now known as the “old State House,” and a thorough going restoration that included the first installation of heating and gas lights. The most controversial action of the term was Ponder’s appointment of his brother-in-law, former U.S. Senator Willard Saulsbury as Chancellor of Delaware. Saulsbury had left the Senate as a disgraced alcoholic, and promised Ponder he would change his ways if he was appointed. Evidently Saulsbury kept his promise.

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
-bgcolor=#cccccc!colspan=12 style="background: #ccccff;" |Delaware General Assembly
"(sessions while Governor)"
-!Year!Assembly!!Senate Majority!Speaker!!House Majority!Speaker
-
1871-1872
76th|
Party shading/Democratic |Democratic
Party shading/Democratic |Charles Gooding|
Party shading/Democratic |Democratic
Party shading/Democratic |Sewell C. Biggs
-
1873-1874
77th|
Party shading/Democratic |Democratic
Party shading/Democratic |Allen V. Leslie|
Party shading/Democratic |Democratic
Party shading/Democratic |Joseph Burchenal
-
###@@@KEYEND@@@###

Death and legacy

Ponder died November 5 1897 at Milton, Delaware, and was buried there, in the Goshen Cemetery.

Almanac

Elections are held the first Tuesday after November 1st. Members of the Delaware General Assembly took office the first Tuesday of January. State Senators have a four year term and State Representatives have a two year term. The Governor takes office the third Tuesday of January and has a four year term.

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
-bgcolor=#cccccc!colspan=7 style="background: #ccccff;" | Public Offices
-! Office! Type! Location! Elected! Took Office! Left Office! notes
-Party shading/Anti-Jacksonian
State Representative
Legislature
Dover
1856
January 6 1857
January 6 1859|
-Party shading/Anti-Jacksonian
State Senator
Legislature
Dover
1864
January 6 1865
January 6 1869|
-Party shading/Anti-Jacksonian
Governor
Executive
Dover
1870
January 17 1871
January 19 1875|
###@@@KEYEND@@@###

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
-bgcolor=#cccccc!colspan=7 style="background: #ccccff;" |Delaware General Assembly "service"
-! Dates! Assembly! Chamber! Majority! Governor! Committees! District
-Party shading/Democratic
1856-1857
69th
State House
Democratic
Peter F. Causey|
Sussex "at-large"
-Party shading/Democratic
1865-1866
73rd
State House
Democratic
Gove Saulsbury|
Sussex "at-large"
-Party shading/Democratic
1867-1868
74th
State House
Democratic
Gove Saulsbury
Speaker
Sussex "at-large"
###@@@KEYEND@@@###

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
-bgcolor=#cccccc!colspan=12 style="background: #ccccff;" |Election results
-!Year!Office!!Subject!Party!Votes!%!!Opponent!Party!Votes!%
-
1870
Governor|
Party shading/Democratic |James Ponder
Party shading/Democratic |Democratic
Party shading/Democratic |11,464
Party shading/Democratic |56%|
Party shading/Republican |Thomas B. Coursey
Party shading/Republican |Republican
Party shading/Republican |9,130
Party shading/Republican |44%
###@@@KEYEND@@@###

References

*cite book |title = History of the State of Delaware |last= Conrad |first= Henry C. |coauthors= |work= |publisher= Wickersham Company |location= Lancaster, Pennsylvania |pages= |year= 1908 |id=
*cite book |title= Democracy in Delaware |last= Hoffecker |first= Carol E. |coauthors= |work= |publisher= Cedar Tree Books |location= Wilmington, Delaware |pages= |year= 2004 |id= ISBN 1-892142-23-6
*cite book |title= A History of Delaware Through its Governors |last= Martin |first= Roger A. |coauthors= |work= |publisher= McClafferty Press |location= Wilmington, Delaware |pages= |year= 1984 |id=
*cite book |title= Memoirs of the Senate |last= Martin |first= Roger A. |coauthors= |work= |publisher= Roger A. Martin |location= Newark, Delaware |pages= |year= 1995 |id=
*cite book |title= History of Delaware 1609-1888 2 vols. |last= Scharf |first= John Thomas |coauthors= |work= |publisher= L. J. Richards & Co |location= Philadelphia |pages= |year= 1888 |id= ISBN 0-87413-493-5

=

* [http://www.state.de.us/research/Tour/information/Governors/govs-20.shtml Hall of Governors Portrait Gallery] "Portrait courtesy of Historical and Cultural Affairs, Dover."

External links

* [http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=016b224971c81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD James Ponder at the "Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States"]
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/ponce-ponder.html#RKD0J7P38 James Ponder at the "Political Graveyard"]
*Find A Grave|id=7498981
* [http://www.russpickett.com/history/delgov3.htm#ponder James Ponder at "Delaware’s Governors"]

Places with more information

* [http://www.hsd.org/ Historical Society of Delaware] , 505 Market St., Wilmington, Delaware [phone]
* [http://www.lib.udel.edu/ University of Delaware Library] , 181 South College Ave., Newark, Delaware [phone]