William D. Hoard

William Dempster Hoard (October 10, 1836 – November 22, 1918) was an American politician, a newspaper editor, and the 16th Governor of the U.S. state of Wisconsin from 1889 to 1891.

William Dempster Hoard
16th Governor of Wisconsin
In office January 7, 1889 – January 5, 1891
Lieutenant	George W. Ryland
Preceded by	Jeremiah McLain Rusk
Succeeded by	George W. Peck
Personal details
Born	(1836-10-10)October 10, 1836 Stockbridge, New York
Died	November 22, 1918(1918-11-22) (aged 82) Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, U.S.
Resting place	Evergreen Cemetery Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Agnes Elizabeth Bragg
Children	3
Profession	Dairyman Editor Politician
Military service
Branch/service	Union Army
Years of service	1861–1862 1864–1865
Unit	4th Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment 1st New York Artillery Regiment
Battles/wars	American Civil War

Early life and career

Hoard's Dairyman Farm in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin

Born in Stockbridge, New York, he moved to Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.

During the American Civil War, Hoard served in the 4th Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment as a musician until he was discharged for medical reasons. He went back to New York to recover and served to the end of the war in the 1st New York Artillery Regiment. Returning to Wisconsin, he got involved with the hops industry, but the glut and decline in the industry left him without money.[1] He was a member of the Republican Party, but was an outsider and an amateur in politics. He was a leading promoter of the dairy industry, through his weekly magazine Hoard's Dairyman.[2]

Governor of Wisconsin

In 1889, Hoard asked the legislature to pass the Bennett Law, the state's first compulsory school attendance law.[3] It required all public and private schools to teach major subjects in English. The German Lutherans and German Catholics, who each had a large parochial school system that used German-speaking teachers, strenuously objected. Hoard made the extremely controversial law the centerpiece of his reelection campaign, rejecting the advice of professional politicians that it would doom the GOP. The law, and Hoard, were repudiated by the state's large German community. Hoard was defeated in an intense campaign by Democrat George Wilbur Peck, the Yankee mayor of Milwaukee.[4][5]

The Republican establishment was outraged at Hoard. In turn the moralistic rank and file bridled at the boss rule. Hoard joined forces with Robert M. La Follette Sr. and created the Progressive faction of the state GOP. It propelled La Follette to the governorship and the U.S. Senate, but Hoard, still an influential publisher, broke with La Follette in 1912.

Death and legacy

Henry Mall monument

Hoard died in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, on November 22, 1918 (age 82 years, 43 days).[6] He is interred at Evergreen Cemetery, Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.

In honor of Hoard's service to the dairy industry, a statue of Hoard by Gutzon Borglum was erected in 1922 at the head of Henry Mall of what is now the University of Wisconsin–Madison, which was the original quadrangle of the university's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.[7] Gutzon Borglum later went on to create Mount Rushmore.

Hoard's birthday is celebrated in Wisconsin as an official holiday named William D. Hoard Day.[8]

Family life

Son of William Bradford and Sarah Katherine White Hoard, he married Agnes Elizabeth Bragg and they had three sons, Halbert Louis, Arthur Ralph, and Frank Ward.

See also

• Hoard Historical Museum

References

1. "Hoard, William Dempster 1836–1918". Dictionary of Wisconsin History. Wisconsin Historical Society. Archived from the original on June 11, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
2. "Hoard's History". Hoard's Dairyman – The National Dairy Farm Magazine. Archived from the original on December 27, 2011.
3. "Bennett Law". Dictionary of Wisconsin History. Wisconsin Historical Society. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
4. Richard Jensen, The Winning of the Midwest: Social and Political Conflict, 1888-1896 (1971) online ch 5
5. William Foote Whyte, "The Bennett Law Campaign in Wisconsin," Wisconsin Magazine of History, 10: 4 (1926–1927).
6. "William D. Hoard Dies". The Marion Star. Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. November 22, 1918. p. 11. Retrieved January 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "W.D.Hoard Gets A Makeover". University of Wisconsin–Madison. October 14, 2002. Archived from the original on June 11, 2010. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
8. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. "Wisconsin Statutes". Retrieved February 6, 2019.

Further reading

• Osman, Loren H. W. D. Hoard: A Man For His Time. Fort Atkinson, Wis.: W. D. Hoard, 1985.
• Risjord, Norman K. "From the Plow to the Cow: William D. Hoard and America's Dairyland". Wisconsin Magazine of History, vol. 88, no. 3 (Spring 2005):40-49.
• Wyman, Roger E. "Wisconsin Ethnic Groups and the Election of 1890". Wisconsin Magazine of History, vol. 51, no. 4 (Summer 1968): 269–293.

External links

• William D. Hoard at Find a Grave

Party political offices
Preceded by Jeremiah McLain Rusk	Republican nominee for Governor of Wisconsin 1888, 1890	Succeeded by John Coit Spooner
Political offices
Preceded by Jeremiah McLain Rusk	Governor of Wisconsin 1889–1891	Succeeded by George W. Peck