George L. Sheldon
| George L. Sheldon | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 14th Governor of Nebraska | |
|
In office January 3, 1907 – January 7, 1909 |
|
| Lieutenant | Melville R. Hopewell |
| Preceded by | John H. Mickey |
| Succeeded by | Ashton C. Shallenberger |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
May 31, 1870 Nehawka, Nebraska |
| Died | April 4, 1960 (aged 89) Mississippi |
| Political party | Republican |
George Lawson Sheldon (May 31, 1870 – April 4, 1960), the first Nebraska-born governor, was 14th Governor of Nebraska from 1907 until 1909. He was a Republican from the progressive wing of that party, which was identified nationally with Theodore Roosevelt.
Born in Nehawka, Nebraska, Sheldon attended the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and received a bachelor's degree in 1892. As a cadet at Nebraska he commanded Company A of the University's Military Department headed by Lieutenant John J. Pershing. He led Company A to win the Maiden Prize of $1,500 at the National Competitive Drills in Omaha, Nebraska on June 13, 1892. Sheldon was also a founding member of the Varsity Rifles, which became Pershing Rifles. He then attended Harvard University for one year, receiving a second bachelor's degree cum laude in 1893. He married Rose Higgins in 1895, and they had four children.
During the Spanish–American War, Sheldon served as a captain in the 3rd Nebraska Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel William Jennings Bryan, who had just lost to William McKinley in the race for president two years before. En route to Cuba, the regiment traveled through Mississippi, and Sheldon liked what he saw there.
After the war Sheldon returned to Nebraska. In 1902, he purchased a plantation of 1700 acres near Greenville, Mississippi. That same year, at the age of 32, he successfully ran for state senate in Nebraska, and was re-elected in 1904.
The railroads had been central to the creation of Nebraska territory through the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, but public perception among white Nebraskans had changed. When the Union Pacific and Burlington railroads were "opening up" the land to settlement (and the dispossession of the Native American inhabitants), towns were eager to court the railroads. However, anger at apparent railroad domination of Nebraska politics had been growing for decades.
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