Lorenzo Crounse (January 27, 1834 – May 13, 1909) was a Nebraska Republican politician and the eighth Governor of Nebraska.

Lorenzo Crounse
8th Governor of Nebraska
In office
January 13, 1893 – January 3, 1895
LieutenantThomas J. Majors
Preceded byJames E. Boyd
Succeeded bySilas A. Holcomb
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Nebraska's at-large congressional district
In office
March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1877
Preceded byJohn Taffe
Succeeded byFrank Welch
Member of the Nebraska Territorial House of Representatives
In office
1866
Associate Justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court
In office
1867–1873
Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury
In office
April 27, 1891 – October 31, 1892
Member of the Nebraska State Senate from the 10th District
In office
1901
Personal details
Born(1834-01-27)January 27, 1834
Sharon, New York
DiedMay 13, 1909(1909-05-13) (aged 75)
Omaha, Nebraska
Political partyRepublican
SpouseMary E. Griffiths
Signature

Early life

edit

Born in Sharon in Schoharie County, New York, Crounse attended the New York Conference Seminary in Charlotteville, New York. While teaching school, he studied law and in 1857 he was admitted to the bar.[1] In 1860, he married Mary E. Griffiths and they had four children.[2]

Career

edit

Crounse established a law practice at Fort Plain, New York. During the Civil War he organized Battery K, New York Light Artillery and became a captain in 1861, served for a year; but was discharged after suffering wounds at a battle on the Rappahannock River in Virginia and resumed his law practice.[3]

 
Lorenzo Crounse

Crounse moved to the Nebraska Territory in 1864, and became part of the territorial legislature and later was a delegate to the state's constitutional convention. He became a Justice of Nebraska state supreme court from 1867 to 1873, and after his term expired, ran and was elected as a Republican to the Forty-third and Forty-fourth Congresses (1873–1877). He declined to run again in 1876.

He became an internal revenue collector for the district of Nebraska in 1879, and then was appointed Assistant Secretary of the United States Treasury on April 27, 1891. He resigned on October 31, 1892 to become the 8th governor of Nebraska. During his term, future Nebraska representative William E. Andrews worked as his private secretary. He served until 1895, and then served briefly in the Nebraska state senate in 1901.[4]

Death and legacy

edit

After his wife, Mary E. Griffiths Crounse (1836-1882) died, Crounse remained a widower, and he spent his last years with one of his four children. He died in Omaha. The now-extinct village of Crounse, Nebraska, near Lincoln was named after him.[5]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Lorenzo Crounse". The Encyclopedia of Nebraska. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  2. ^ "Lorenzo Crounse". National Governors Association. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  3. ^ "Lorenzo Crounse". Semi-Centennial History of Nebraska. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  4. ^ "Lorenzo Crounse". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  5. ^ Pesek, Cara (May 17, 2005). "Natives of Crounse remember town replaced by lake". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
edit
Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for Governor of Nebraska
1892
Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Nebraska's at-large congressional district

1873–1877
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of Nebraska
1893–1895
Succeeded by