Michigan Governor. His formative years were spent in the lumbering industry and in shipping on the Great Lakes. In early 1853, he went to California and briefly established mercantile and mining interests. He returned to Michigan at the end of the year and joined his brother near Saginaw in lumbering operations. With the advent of the Civil War, Governor Blair asked him to raise the 23rd Michigan Volunteer Infantry. In the fall of 1862, he was elected a state senator and continued to raise money and troops to support the war effort for the duration of the war. He was military aide to Governor Crapo from 1865 until 1866 and was President of the State Military Board from 1865 until 1873. He was appointed to the committee to revise the state constitution in 1873 and served as a member of the United states Board of Indian Commissioners from 1876 until 1881. On November 2, 1880, he was elected Governor of Michigan as a Republican and took office on January 1, 1881. During his tenure, the Michigan School for the Blind was established in Lansing, a state hospital for the insane was organized at Traverse City, a commissioner for immigration was appointed, and railroad construction was greatly increased. He was defeated for re-election by Josiah Begole in November of 1882 and left office on January 1, 1883. In 1889, President Benjamin Harrison appointed him to be Chairman of the Cherokee Commission. That commission used the tactic of "allotment", which was the federal policy of dividing communally held Indian tribal lands into individually owned parcels of private property. It opened Indian land to settlement by non-Indians and to development by railroads. Since he was the chairman and chief negotiator of the commission, it it sometimes referred to as the Jerome Commission. By the time the funding of the commission expired in August of 1893, it had negotiated eleven tribal agreements and had purchased 15,100,538 acres from Indians to be opened to white settlement in what eventually became the territory and state of Oklahoma. He died while visiting family members in New York.
Michigan Governor. His formative years were spent in the lumbering industry and in shipping on the Great Lakes. In early 1853, he went to California and briefly established mercantile and mining interests. He returned to Michigan at the end of the year and joined his brother near Saginaw in lumbering operations. With the advent of the Civil War, Governor Blair asked him to raise the 23rd Michigan Volunteer Infantry. In the fall of 1862, he was elected a state senator and continued to raise money and troops to support the war effort for the duration of the war. He was military aide to Governor Crapo from 1865 until 1866 and was President of the State Military Board from 1865 until 1873. He was appointed to the committee to revise the state constitution in 1873 and served as a member of the United states Board of Indian Commissioners from 1876 until 1881. On November 2, 1880, he was elected Governor of Michigan as a Republican and took office on January 1, 1881. During his tenure, the Michigan School for the Blind was established in Lansing, a state hospital for the insane was organized at Traverse City, a commissioner for immigration was appointed, and railroad construction was greatly increased. He was defeated for re-election by Josiah Begole in November of 1882 and left office on January 1, 1883. In 1889, President Benjamin Harrison appointed him to be Chairman of the Cherokee Commission. That commission used the tactic of "allotment", which was the federal policy of dividing communally held Indian tribal lands into individually owned parcels of private property. It opened Indian land to settlement by non-Indians and to development by railroads. Since he was the chairman and chief negotiator of the commission, it it sometimes referred to as the Jerome Commission. By the time the funding of the commission expired in August of 1893, it had negotiated eleven tribal agreements and had purchased 15,100,538 acres from Indians to be opened to white settlement in what eventually became the territory and state of Oklahoma. He died while visiting family members in New York.
Bio by: Thomas Fisher
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