Richard F. Pettigrew
Encyclopedia
Richard Franklin Pettigrew (July 23, 1848 October 5, 1926) was an American
lawyer, surveyor, and land developer. He represented the Dakota Territory
in the U.S. Congress
and, after the Dakotas were admitted as States, he was the first U.S. Senator
from South Dakota
.
, Windsor County, Vermont
, and moved with his parents to Wisconsin
in 1854. The family settled in Rock County
, near Union, Wisconsin
. He studied law in Iowa
, and entered the law department of the University of Wisconsin–Madison
in 1867. He moved to Dakota in 1869 to work with a United States
deputy surveyor.
Pettigrew settled in Sioux Falls
, where he practiced law and engaged in surveying and real estate
. He was a member of the territorial House of Representatives and served on the Territorial council. He was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House, serving from March 4, 1881 - March 4, 1883. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1882, but returned to the territorial council from 1885 to 1889.
When South Dakota was admitted as a state, Pettigrew was elected as South Dakota's first Senator to the United States Senate. He served from November 2, 1889 to March 4, 1901. He introduced a bill to fund the structure, recommending that native Sioux quartzite be used for construction of the state's first Federal building. He was re-elected in 1894, but left the Republican party on June 17, 1896 to join the Silver Republicans
, a faction of the Republican Party which opposed the party's position in support of the monetary gold standard. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1900.
In the Presidential Election of 1900, while still in the Senate, he was a delegate and a major figure in the national political convention
of the Populist Party
held in Sioux Falls that convened on May 9, 1900 and lasted three days. The party endorsed William Jennings Bryan
as its candidate.
After his time in the Senate, Pettigrew first practiced law in New York City
, but soon returned to Sioux Falls and was active in politics and business until his death in that city. He was interred in Woodlawn Cemetery in Sioux Falls.
Pettigrew left his home to the city of Sioux Falls in his will. Pettigrew's home is maintained by the city of Sioux Falls to this day. The Pettigrew museum is designed to emulate how a person of Pettigrew's stature would have lived at the turn of the century. The house is filled with antiques from the early 1900s and Pettigrew's personal collection of artifacts. The latter because Pettigrew was an amateur archaeologist.
Pettigrew was also instrumental in the founding of many local communities around Sioux Falls, by donating land. Pettigrew and his wife, Bessie, donated land in 1886 to the founding and development of Granite, Iowa
in Lyon County
. In 1888, he and S.L. Tate both donated more land and were responsible for the founding of South Sioux Falls
. He wanted to build a suburb of Sioux Falls to the south and west.
Announced January 12, 2009, Richard F. Pettigrew Elementary School will open fall of 2009 in southwest Sioux Falls.
, Pettigrew offered his opinion that the First World War was a capitalist
scheme intended to further enrich the wealthy, and he urged young men to evade the draft
. The local United States Attorney
secured a felony indictment of Pettigrew for suspicion of violating the Espionage Act of 1917
, the same charge for which Socialist
leader Eugene V. Debs
was then presently serving a ten-year Federal prison sentence.
Pettigrew assembled a high-powered legal defense team headed up by his close personal friend, prominent attorney Clarence Darrow
. The trial was repeatedly delayed, and eventually the charge against him was dropped.
Pettigrew had the the formal document of indictment framed, and prominently displayed in his home next to a framed copy of the United States Declaration of Independence
, where it remains to this day as part of the exhibits of the Pettigrew House & Museum.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyer, surveyor, and land developer. He represented the Dakota Territory
Dakota Territory
The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.The Dakota Territory consisted of...
in the U.S. Congress
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
and, after the Dakotas were admitted as States, he was the first U.S. Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
.
Biography
Pettigrew was born in LudlowLudlow (town), Vermont
Ludlow is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,449 at the 2000 census. Ludlow is the home of Okemo Mountain, a popular skiing area.-Geography:...
, Windsor County, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, and moved with his parents to Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
in 1854. The family settled in Rock County
Rock County, Wisconsin
-Unincorporated communities:-Further reading:* . Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879.* Brown, William F. , Chicago: Cooper, 1908.* Brown, William F. , Chicago: Cooper, 1908....
, near Union, Wisconsin
Union, Rock County, Wisconsin
Union is a town in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,860 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated community of Union is located in the town.-Geography:...
. He studied law in Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, and entered the law department of the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
in 1867. He moved to Dakota in 1869 to work with a United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
deputy surveyor.
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Sioux Falls is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Sioux Falls is the county seat of Minnehaha County, and also extends into Lincoln County to the south...
, where he practiced law and engaged in surveying and real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
. He was a member of the territorial House of Representatives and served on the Territorial council. He was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House, serving from March 4, 1881 - March 4, 1883. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1882, but returned to the territorial council from 1885 to 1889.
When South Dakota was admitted as a state, Pettigrew was elected as South Dakota's first Senator to the United States Senate. He served from November 2, 1889 to March 4, 1901. He introduced a bill to fund the structure, recommending that native Sioux quartzite be used for construction of the state's first Federal building. He was re-elected in 1894, but left the Republican party on June 17, 1896 to join the Silver Republicans
Silver Republican Party
The Silver Republican Party was a United States political faction active in the 1890s. It was so named because it split from the Republican Party over the issues of "Free Silver" and bimetallism. The main Republican Party supported the gold standard....
, a faction of the Republican Party which opposed the party's position in support of the monetary gold standard. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1900.
In the Presidential Election of 1900, while still in the Senate, he was a delegate and a major figure in the national political convention
Political convention
In politics, a political convention is a meeting of a political party, typically to select party candidates.In the United States, a political convention usually refers to a presidential nominating convention, but it can also refer to state, county, or congressional district nominating conventions...
of the Populist Party
Populist Party (United States)
The People's Party, also known as the "Populists", was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1891. It was most important in 1892-96, then rapidly faded away...
held in Sioux Falls that convened on May 9, 1900 and lasted three days. The party endorsed William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
as its candidate.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, but soon returned to Sioux Falls and was active in politics and business until his death in that city. He was interred in Woodlawn Cemetery in Sioux Falls.
Pettigrew left his home to the city of Sioux Falls in his will. Pettigrew's home is maintained by the city of Sioux Falls to this day. The Pettigrew museum is designed to emulate how a person of Pettigrew's stature would have lived at the turn of the century. The house is filled with antiques from the early 1900s and Pettigrew's personal collection of artifacts. The latter because Pettigrew was an amateur archaeologist.
Pettigrew was also instrumental in the founding of many local communities around Sioux Falls, by donating land. Pettigrew and his wife, Bessie, donated land in 1886 to the founding and development of Granite, Iowa
Granite, Iowa
Granite is an unincorporated community in Lyon County, Iowa, United States, near the historic Blood Run Site and the Gitchie Manitou State Preserve.-Geography:...
in Lyon County
Lyon County, Iowa
-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 11,581 in the county, with a population density of . There were 4,848 housing units, of which 4,442 were occupied.-2000 census:...
. In 1888, he and S.L. Tate both donated more land and were responsible for the founding of South Sioux Falls
South Sioux Falls, South Dakota
South Sioux Falls was an incorporated community located in south-central Minnehaha County, South Dakota, United States until 1955. The community was centered in present day Sioux Falls alongside the Minnesota Ave. exit of Interstate 229, stretching from 33rd to street in the north, to 57th street...
. He wanted to build a suburb of Sioux Falls to the south and west.
Announced January 12, 2009, Richard F. Pettigrew Elementary School will open fall of 2009 in southwest Sioux Falls.
Pettigrew indictment
In 1917, while being interviewed by a journalist from the Argus LeaderArgus Leader
See also List of newspapers in South DakotaThe Argus Leader is the daily newspaper of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It is South Dakota's largest newspaper by circulation.-Description:...
, Pettigrew offered his opinion that the First World War was a capitalist
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
scheme intended to further enrich the wealthy, and he urged young men to evade the draft
Selective Service Act of 1917
The Selective Service Act or Selective Draft Act was passed by the Congress of the United States on May 18, 1917. It was envisioned in December 1916 and brought to President Woodrow Wilson's attention shortly after the break in relations with Germany in February 1917...
. The local United States Attorney
United States Attorney
United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...
secured a felony indictment of Pettigrew for suspicion of violating the Espionage Act of 1917
Espionage Act of 1917
The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law passed on June 15, 1917, shortly after the U.S. entry into World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code but is now found under Title 18, Crime...
, the same charge for which Socialist
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
leader Eugene V. Debs
Eugene V. Debs
Eugene Victor Debs was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World , and several times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States...
was then presently serving a ten-year Federal prison sentence.
Pettigrew assembled a high-powered legal defense team headed up by his close personal friend, prominent attorney Clarence Darrow
Clarence Darrow
Clarence Seward Darrow was an American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, best known for defending teenage thrill killers Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murdering 14-year-old Robert "Bobby" Franks and defending John T...
. The trial was repeatedly delayed, and eventually the charge against him was dropped.
Pettigrew had the the formal document of indictment framed, and prominently displayed in his home next to a framed copy of the United States Declaration of Independence
United States Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...
, where it remains to this day as part of the exhibits of the Pettigrew House & Museum.
Books
- The Course of Empire. New York: Boni & Liveright, 1920. (Anti-imperialist speeches)
- Imperial Washington: The Story of American Public Life from 1870 to 1920. 1922. Reprint. New York: Arno Press, 1970. Originally published as Triumphant Plutocracy: The Story of American Public Life from 1870 to 1920.
Quotes
All quotes are from Pettigrew's book Triumphant Plutocracy- "Capital is stolen labor and its only function is to steal more labor"
- "The early years of the century marked the progress of the race toward individual freedom and permanent victory over the tyranny of hereditary aristocracy, but the closing decades of the century have witnessed the surrender of all that was gained to the more heartless tyranny of accumulated wealth"
- "Under the ethics of his profession the lawyer is the only man who can take a bribe and call it a fee"
- "The sum and substance of the conquest of the PhilippinesPhilippine-American WarThe Philippine–American War, also known as the Philippine War of Independence or the Philippine Insurrection , was an armed conflict between a group of Filipino revolutionaries and the United States which arose from the struggle of the First Philippine Republic to gain independence following...
is to find a field where cheap labor can be secured, labor that does not strike, that does not belong to a union, that does not need an army to keep it in leading strings, that will make goods for the trusts of this country" - "It had come into being as a protest against slavery and as the special champion of the Declaration of Independence, it would go out of being and out of power as the champion of slavery and the repudiator of the Declaration of Independence." --–On the Republican PartyRepublican Party (United States)The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. - "The Russian RevolutionRussian Revolution of 1917The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
is the greatest event of our times. It marks the beginning of the epoch when the working people will assume the task of directing and controlling industry. It blazes a path into this unknown country, where the workers of the world are destined to take from their exploiters the right to control and direct the economic affairs of the community."
External links
- A Forgotten Fighter against Plutocracy, an article about Pettigrew by George NovackGeorge NovackGeorge Novack was an American Communist politician and Marxist theoretician....
- Pettigrew Home & Museum
- Triumphant Plutocracy