Andrew Jackson Montague
Andrew Jackson Montague | |
---|---|
Joseph E. Willard | |
Preceded by | James Hoge Tyler |
Succeeded by | Claude A. Swanson |
19th Attorney General of Virginia | |
In office January 1, 1898 – January 1, 1902 | |
Governor | James Hoge Tyler |
Preceded by | Richard C. Scott |
Succeeded by | William A. Anderson |
United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia | |
In office 1893–1898 | |
Appointed by | Grover Cleveland |
Preceded by | William E. Craig |
Succeeded by | Thomas L. Alderson |
Personal details | |
Born | October 3, 1862 Campbell County, Virginia |
Died | January 24, 1937 (aged 74) Urbanna, Virginia |
Political party | Democratic |
Alma mater | Richmond College University of Virginia |
Profession | Politician, Lawyer |
Andrew Jackson Montague (October 3, 1862 – January 24, 1937; nickname "Jack") was a
Early life and education
This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2021) |
The son of prominent Confederate and later state judge
After his father died in 1880, Montague left the farm and went to Richmond, Virginia.[2] He attended Richmond College (predecessor to the University of Richmond), where he gained a reputation as a skilled orator and debater. After several years as a private tutor, Montague began legal studies at the University of Virginia, graduating with a law degree in 1885.[1] He later received an honorary doctorate of laws degree from Brown University in 1905.
Career
After admission to the Virginia bar, Montague began his legal practice in
Governor
While serving as attorney general, Montague became increasingly involved with the Virginia Progressive movement, which emphasized education reform and disfranchisement of black voters as a way to stem political corruption.[4] Positioning himself as the independent alternative to Senator Thomas S. Martin's political machine, Montague determined to make a run in the upcoming Virginia gubernatorial election. Running on the independent platform, Montague solidly defeated Martin's candidate, Claude A. Swanson, for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Virginia.[5]
Montague won 58.19% of the vote in the general election of 1901, easily defeating Republican John Hampton Hoge, as well as Prohibitionist O.C. Rucker, and Socialists Hugh Motter and John J. Quantz.[6] He became the first Virginia governor since the Civil War who had not served with the Confederate Army.[7]
Shortly after Montague's inauguration, and with his support, the
As governor, Montague enunciated a progressive agenda, and he made speeches throughout the state calling for progress toward "good schools" and "good roads". His efforts on behalf of schools resulted in some tangible progress, particularly in terms of increased local funding, longer terms and school consolidation. For roads, he pressed for the creation of a state
In 1905, while still governor, Montague determined to make a run for the United States Senate against the incumbent Martin. Martin and Montague represented the two main factions within the Virginia Democratic party, and their contest would effectively determine which would control Virginia politics.[12] Martin responded to the challenge by publicly embracing Montague's main issues: good schools, good roads and the primary election process. Having minimized the differences between their positions and with a larger political organization,[13] Senator Martin handily[clarification needed] won re-election, leaving an embittered Montague to finish out his term as governor.[14]
Internationalist
After leaving office as governor, Montague served as the dean of Richmond College Law School for three years, before returning to the private practice of law in 1909.[3]
In July, 1906 Montague was among the American delegates at the Conference of American States meeting in Rio de Janeiro. He later was a delegate to the Third International Conference on Maritime Law at Brussels in 1909 and 1910, as well as a trustee of Carnegie Institute in Washington, D.C., and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He would become president of the American Society for Judicial Settlement of International Disputes in 1917, and serve as president of the American Peace Society (1920-1924). Montague was an "outspoken Anglophile" who was among a group of six Virginia congressmen consisting of himself as well as Patrick H. Drewry, S. Otis Bland, Joseph T. Deal, George C. Peery and Henry St. George Tucker III who spent much of the 1920s advocating closer relations between the United States and the United Kingdom.[15]
Congressman
In 1912, Montague ran for the Richmond District seat in the United States House of Representatives. He defeated the Republican incumbent, and would retain for almost a quarter of a century.[16]
A supporter of President
Personal life
He married Elizabeth Lyne Hoskins (1868 - 1951), daughter of a Middlesex county doctor, on December 11, 1889. They had two sons (one of whom died young, the other served heroically in World War I and became Brig. Gen. Robert Latane Montague Jr. (1897-1972)), as well as two daughters, Matilda Gay Montague Moore (1891-1988) and Janet Roy Montague Nunnally (1895-1977). Betsy Montague was very active in historic preservation in Alexandria, Virginia and in Williamsburg, and Gov. Montague corresponded with philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. who established Colonial Williamsburg. In 1934, the Montagues purchased Sandwich at Urbanna, Virginia.[17]
Death and legacy
Congressman Montague died in office on January 24, 1937, after winning a narrow election against his first significant (primary) opposition in twenty-five years.[18] He is interred in the family's section at the graveyard of Christ Church in Saluda, Virginia.
Electoral history
- 1912; Montague was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 97.58% of the vote, defeating Independent Chase A. Haight and Socialist Labor H. Adolph Muller.
- 1914; Montague was re-elected with 95.81% of the vote, defeating Socialist S.C. Weatherly and Socialist Labor Muller.
- 1916; Montague was re-elected unopposed.
- 1918; Montague was re-elected unopposed.
- 1920; Montague was re-elected with 72.5% of the vote, defeating Republican Walker G. Decourcy, ColR (?) H.H. Price, Independent Republican John L. Grubbs, and Socialist Muller.
- 1922; Montague was re-elected with 90.14% of the vote, defeating Republican Channing M. Ward.
- 1924; Montague was re-elected with 99.97% of the vote, defeating Republican C.B. Jones.
- 1926; Montague was re-elected unopposed.
- 1928; Montague was re-elected with 75.89% of the vote, defeating Republican J.D. Peake and Independents James E. Maynard and Henry W. Anderson.
- 1930; Montague was re-elected with 87.4% of the vote, defeating Independent Republican R. Houston Brett.
- 1932; Montague was re-elected as part of the Democratic slate for Virginia at-large Congressional district.
- 1934; Montague was re-elected with 80.45% of the vote, defeating Republican Roy C. Parks, Socialist Hilliard Bernstein, and Communist William H. Friend.
- 1936; Montague was re-elected with 84.49% of the vote, defeating Republican Charles G. Wilson and Socialist Winston Dawson.
See also
- List of United States Congress members who died in office (1900–49)
William E. Larsen, Montague of Virginia, The Making of a Southern Progressive (Louisiana State University Press, 1965)
References
- ^ a b c Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, ed. (1915). Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography. Lewis historical publishing company. p. 10.
- ISBN 0-8139-0920-1.
- ^ a b c "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress: MONTAGUE, Andrew Jackson, (1862 - 1937)". United States Congress. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
- ^ a b Larson (1982) pp. 160–163
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8139-2609-4.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - VA Governor Race - Nov 05, 1901". Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ^ Bellamy, Francis Rufus (1902). "Notable Figures in the Political Field". The Outlook. LXX (January–April, 1902). New York: The Outlook Company: 23. Retrieved January 5, 2009.
- ^ Larson (1982) pp. 164–165
- ^ November 9, 2011. There Ain't No Barbecue Like a “Montague Barbecue”
- OCLC 435376.
- ^ Moger (1968) pp. 207–208
- ^ Moger (1968) p. 206
- ^ Moger (1968) pp. 210–211
- ^ Larson (1982) p. 166
- ^ Governor Andrew Jackson Montague, Spokesman for the New Virginia by William E. Larsen University of Virginia, 1958
- ^ a b Larson (1982) p. 167
- ^ R. Latane Montague, IV (December 2007). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Sandwich" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-09-27. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
- ^ Larson (1982) pp. 167-168