David B. Hill

David Bennett Hill
United States Senator from New York
In office January 7, 1892 – March 4, 1897
Preceded by	William M. Evarts
Succeeded by	Thomas C. Platt
29th Governor of New York
In office January 6, 1885 – December 31, 1891
Lieutenant	Dennis McCarthy (acting) Edward F. Jones
Preceded by	Grover Cleveland
Succeeded by	Roswell P. Flower
29th Lieutenant Governor of New York
In office January 1, 1883 – January 6, 1885
Governor	Grover Cleveland
Preceded by	George Gilbert Hoskins
Succeeded by	Dennis McCarthy (acting)
Personal details
Born	August 29, 1843(1843-08-29) Havana, New York
Died	October 20, 1910(1910-10-20) (aged 67) Albany, New York
Political party	Democratic
Profession	Lawyer

David Bennett Hill (August 29, 1843 – October 20, 1910) was an American politician from New York who was the 29th Governor of New York from 1885 to 1891.

Life

He was Mayor of Elmira, New York in 1882. He was Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1883 to 1885, elected in 1882 on the Democratic ticket with Governor Grover Cleveland. He was Governor from 1885 to 1891, succeeding to the office upon Cleveland's resignation and re-elected in 1885 and 1888. During his tenure as Governor, William Kemmler was executed in the electric chair, the first inmate in the country ever to be put to death in this manner. On April 23, 1889 Hill vetoed a bill from the state legislature that would block the street construction at the Polo Grounds. He also vetoed two times (1888 and 1889) a ballot reform bill by the Republican legislature to stop the rife election fraud in New York.^[1]

He was a U.S. Senator from New York from 1892 to 1897. He was elected in February 1891, but took his seat only after the end of his term as governor in January 1892. He was also a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President in 1892, but lost to Grover Cleveland, who later won the presidential election. He was defeated by Republican Levi P. Morton when, as a sitting U.S senator, he ran again for Governor in November 1894. While Senator in 1893 and 1894 he blocked President Cleveland's two appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court: William B. Hornblower and Wheeler H. Peckham who had opposed Hill's political machine.

References

1. ^ William M. Ivins: On the Electoral System of the State of New York. A paper presented at the twenty-nith annual meeting of the New York State Bar Association. New York 1906.

External links

Biography portal

• A Jeffersonian Governor: David Bennett Hill
• David B. Hill at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

Political offices
Preceded by George Gilbert Hoskins	Lieutenant Governor of New York 1883 - 1885	Succeeded by Dennis McCarthy Acting
Preceded by Grover Cleveland	Governor of New York 1885 - 1891	Succeeded by Roswell P. Flower
United States Senate
Preceded by William M. Evarts	United States Senator (Class 3) from New York 1892 - 1897 Served alongside: Frank Hiscock, Edward Murphy, Jr.	Succeeded by Thomas C. Platt

Persondata
Name	Hill, David Bennett
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 29, 1843
Place of birth	Havana, New York
Date of death	October 20, 1910
Place of death	Albany, New York