William D. Bloxham

Infobox Governor
name = William Dunnington Bloxham

---

order = 13th
office = Governor of Florida
term_start = January 4, 1881
term_end = January 7, 1885
lieutenant =
predecessor = George Franklin Drew
successor = Edward A. Perry
order2 = 17th
office2 = Governor of Florida
term_start2 = January 5, 1897
term_end2 = January 8, 1901
lieutenant2 =
predecessor2 = Henry L. Mitchell
successor2 = William Sherman Jennings
birth_date = July 9, 1835
birth_place = Leon County, Florida
death_date = March 15, 1911
death_place = Tallahassee, Florida
party = Democratic
spouse =
profession =
religion =

William Dunnington Bloxham (July 9, 1835 – March 15, 1911) was an American politician. He served as the thirteenth and seventeenth governor of Florida in two non-consecutive terms. Prior to his first term as governor, he served in the Florida House of Representatives.

He was the first Democrat to hold the office of governor after the Civil War. In between his terms as governor, he served as state comptroller under Governor Francis P. Fleming. Bloxham was only the second governor of Florida to be born in the state.

Early life and career

Bloxham was born on a plantation in Leon County, Florida, the son of William and Martha (Williams) Bloxham.The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, p. 382.] Headley, p. 695.] Douglas, p. 281.] His great-grandfather had migrated from England to manage George Washington's plantation and his grandfather endured adversity due to the War of 1812. His father was from Alexandria, Virginia and moved to Leon County to run a plantation in 1825, becoming one of few white settlers in a Native American-dominated area. The elder William served in the Seminole Wars. Martha Bloxham was born in Twiggs County, Georgia and moved to Florida as a child.

The younger Bloxham went to county school in Florida before being sent to preparatory school in Virginia at age 13. For the next seven years, he attended Virginia schools including Rappahannock Academy where his teachers included eventual U.S. Senator William Mahone. Bloxham graduated from The College of William & Mary in 1855 and acquired a law degree from the college. He was admitted to the Florida Bar but, when his health declined, he travelled to Europe and chose the more active life of a planter when he returned. In November 1856, he and Mary C. Davis travelled to her home city of Lynchburg, Virginia to be married.

Bloxham became interested in politics and actively campaigned for James Buchanan in the 1856 presidential election.Headley, pp. 695-696.] In 1861, he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives without opposition.Headley, p. 696.] [http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=39ab224971c81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD Florida Governor William Dunnington Bloxham] from National Governors Association web site. Accessed April 1, 2008.] With the Civil War raging in 1862, Bloxham organized a company of infantry from Leon County which he commanded for the duration of the war. After the war, he staunchly opposed Reconstruction and, using his popularity as a speaker, was a leading voice among Florida Democrats. He served as a Presidential Elector for the Horatio Seymour/Francis Preston Blair, Jr. Democratic ticket in the 1868 election.

1870 election controversy

In 1870, Bloxham was at the center of a political firestorm during one of Florida's most violent periods. The Republican carpetbaggers were being resisted in Florida, often violently, by groups like the Ku Klux Klan. On Election Day of 1870, the most violent counties were inundated with federal troops at the request of Governor Harrison Reed. The chaos of that day included constitutional convention member, William Capers Bird, pointing a handgun at African American state senator Robert Meacham on the courthouse steps in Monticello, reportedly warning, "no damned nigger shall vote here."Manley, p. 244.]

When the voting finally ended, it appeared that Bloxham had won the Lieutenant Governor race. Republicans used the chaos of the day as an excuse for rejecting the votes of nine largely-Democratic counties, but Bloxham sought an injunction from the Florida Circuit Courts to prevent tainted results from being announced. A circuit judge granted the injunction but a federal grand jury indicted the judge. With the circuit judge in jail, the Republican-led board of canvassers rejected enough ballots to overturn Bloxham's victory in favor of Republican Samuel T. Day.

Bloxham pushed the election dispute to the Florida Supreme Court, filing for a writ of mandamus on January 10, 1871 to force a recount. While the Florida Attorney General disagreed that a recount could be ordered, the Supreme Court Chief Justice sided with Bloxham. Republican legislators countered by repealing the law which created the board of canvassers in the first place and the Supreme Court was unable to compel the board to recount when the board effectively ceased to exist.Manley, p. 245.] Bloxham applied to the supreme court for a writ of quo warranto on February 20, 1871 to challenge Day's victory, but the case did not begin until November 15.Manley, pp. 245-246.] On June 1, 1872, the court finally ruled that Bloxham had won the 1870 election, by which time he had missed every state senate session in the term, meaning the term was effectively concluded.Manley, p. 246.] Although he took the oath of office on June 3, he couldn't perform the lieutenant governor's only duty, which was to preside over the Senate. [cite book |last=Tebeau |first=Charlton W. |title=A History of Florida |publisher=University of Miami Press |location=Coral Gables, FL |year=1980 |page=252 |isbn=0870241494 ] Thus, he is not named in lists of Florida's lieutenant governors. [citation|year=2007| editor-last = Morris| editor-first = Allen| editor2-last = Morris| editor2-first = Joan Perry|title=The Florida Handbook 2007-2008| publication-place = Tallahassee, FL|publisher=Peninsular|page=39|isbn=9780976584612] Regardless, the ruling marked the first win for the Florida Democratic Party since the war.

Governorship and the Disston Land Purchase

In the summer of 1872, Bloxham was unanimously nominated at the Jacksonville Democratic Convention to run for Governor with Confederate General Robert Bullock as his running mate. In November, a severe Election Day storm reduced the vote count and Bloxham was defeated by Republican Ossian B. Hart by 1,200 votes.Manley, p. 224.] Hart, who had tried to claim Abijah Gilbert's U.S. Senate seat two years earlier, died barely a year into his term. Bloxham served on the State Democratic Executive Committee and actively participated in the successful gubernatorial campaign of George Franklin Drew, promising protection to African Americans who voted for him. Bloxham was named Secretary of State.

In June 1880, Bloxham was nominated again to run for Governor and so resigned as Secretary of State. In his second attempt, he won the election by over 5,000 and was inaugurated on January 4, 1881. Bloxham inherited a state debt of $1 million and a lawsuit that placed a lien on millions of acres of Florida land.Grunwald, p. 72.] Before his first month as governor was complete, Bloxham and Florida signed an agreement with Philadelphia saw manufacturing heir, Hamilton Disston, whereby Disston would attempt to drain the Everglades and would receive half of the land he reclaimed.Grunwald, p. 85.] With Disston actively planning his drainage efforts, Bloxham personally travelled to Philadelphia to make an even larger deal with him. On June 14, 1881, Disston signed a contract to purchase four million acres (16,000 km²) of Florida land, larger than the state of Connecticut, for $1 million, a purchase which made international news.Grunwald, p. 86.] When Disston and a second buyer, Sir Edward James Reed, paid in full, the state was out of debt and the first land boom soon followed.Grunwald, pp. 86-87.]

Towards the end of Bloxham's first stint as Governor, in 1884, call for revision to the Florida Constitution increased, fueled by division among the state's democrats. Supporters of Bloxham's predecessor, George Franklin Drew, criticized Bloxham for the Disston Land Purchase as well as his apparent commitment to Florida Panhandle development at the expense of the rest of the state. They rallied around Confederate General Edward A. Perry and a call for a Constitutional Convention. In 1884, Bloxham lost the Democratic nomination to Perry and voters approved the convention which led to the 1885 Florida Constitution.Manley, pp. 267-268.]

econd term

On April 18, 1885, Bloxham was appointed Minister Resident and Consul General to Bolivia by President Grover Cleveland. Bloxham took the oath of office but declined to report for the post. [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/po/com/10393.htm List of Ambassadors to Bolivia] from the United States Department of State web site. Accessed April 1, 2008.] cite news
title=Selected as Ministers
url=http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9802E0D61F3BE033A2575AC1A9629C94649FD7CF&oref=slogin
format=PDF
publisher=The New York Times
date=April 19 1885
accessdate=2008-03-30] Instead, he accepted a November 1885 appointment to become the U.S. Surveyor General for Florida which he held until December 1889. When the state comptroller position became vacant on May 1, 1890, Governor Francis P. Fleming appointed Bloxham to fill it. Bloxham was unanimously nominated for the position in August 1890 and easily won the election, and was easily re-elected in 1892.

Comptroller Bloxham ran for governor and was victorious in 1896, 12 years after leaving the office. Despite his conservative reputation, Bloxham left his mark in his second term by reinstating and expanding the powers of a railroad commission, restricting monopolies and creating a state-wide auditor to eliminate government fraud and waste. Fire insurance company regulation was initiated and women served as public notaries for the first time during Bloxham's second stint as governor.Manley, p. 328.]

William Bloxham died on March 15, 1911 in Tallahassee, Florida. A planned Bloxham County, Florida centered around Williston, Florida, was rejected by a referendum in 1915. [http://www.jud10.org/Courthouses/Levy/levy.html Levy County Courthouse] at the Florida's 10th Judicial Circuit web site. Accessed April 1, 2008.]

Other

William Bloxham was a cotton plantation owner in Leon County, Florida from the late 1850s owner of the William D. Bloxham Plantation.

Notes

References

*The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography (1901), [http://books.google.com/books?id=-t4DAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA382&dq=Florida+Bloxham&num=100&ei=g1TlR86cEJ3AzASfzqzTBA Volume XI] , J. T. White Company, p. 382.
*cite book
last=Douglas
first=Marjory Stoneman
authorlink=Marjory Stoneman Douglas
others=With an update by Michael Grunwald
title= (60th Anniversary Edition)
publisher=Pineapple Press
origyear=1947
year=2007
isbn=1561643947
*cite book
last=Manley
first=Walter W. II
title=The Supreme Court of Florida and Its Predecessor Courts, 1821-1917
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=6DZsiFB1Oj8C&pg=PA245&lpg=PA245&dq=Bloxham+lieutenant+governor&source=web&ots=AwJwpr8DXN&sig=LBCjNWHhR1Fu_w7OM-y27UjE7g8&hl=en#PPA224,M1
coauthors=Eric W. Rise, E. Canter Brown Jr., Florida Supreme Court Historical Society
publisher=University Press of Florida
origyear=1998
origmonth=February
isbn=0813015405
*cite book
last=Headley
first=Phineas Camp
title=Public Men of To-day
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=absBAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA695&dq=William+Bloxham&ei=YyDsR-z0Eoa4zATa9pzMCw
publisher=S. S. Scranton & Company
location=Hartford, Connecticut
year=1882
pages=pp. 695-698
series=First Series
*cite book
last=Grunwald
first=Michael
title=The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise
publisher=Simon & Schuster
isbn=9780743251051
year=2006

External links

* [http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/museum/collections/governors/about.cfm?id=20 Official Governor's portrait and biography from the State of Florida]