Nehemiah G. Ordway

Nehemiah George Ordway ( born November 10, 1828 in Warner, New Hampshire, † July 3, 1907 in Boston, Massachusetts ) was an American politician and from 1880 to 1884 the 7th Territorial Governor in Dakota Territory.

Early years and political rise

Nehemiah Ordway attended the local schools of his home. Then he went into the trading and banking business. He became a member of the Republican Party and was to be their state chairman in New Hampshire. In this capacity, he supported the 1860 presidential campaign of Abraham Lincoln. In 1862 he was appointed head of the U.S. Postal System of the New England states. Between 1863 and 1875 he was Chief of Protocol of the U.S. House of Representatives ( Sergeant at Arms, United States House of Representatives ). The following five years until 1880 he was member of the state Senate from New Hampshire. In May 1880 he was appointed by President Rutherford B. Hayes as the new territorial governor of Dakota Territory.

Territorial Governor

Ordway was confirmed on 1 June by the U.S. Congress for this office and arrived in the capital Yankton on June 23, 1880. In the four years of his tenure, the territory has experienced an enormous growth with new settlers. The population has almost doubled in 1879-1884 and the agriculture and industry began to flourish in spite of some natural disasters. This development was facilitated by the further expansion of the railway network. As a result of population growth and many new cities and counties emerged. Governor Ordway had to deal with an extreme weather situation, as a nine-day intensive snowstorm led to supply bottlenecks in the country in February 1881. In 1883 Ordway moved the capital of the territory against strong resistance from Yankton to Bismarck. The government Ordways came from the very beginning under suspicion of corruption. He was accused of corruption and nepotism. Since 1881, from the opposition, several advances in Washington to let undertaken to replace the governor. Also in connection with the founding of new districts and cities in 1883 irregularities were discovered in the year. After the reports of Ordway were always negative, and sentenced by a court for corruption, he was dismissed from his post in 1884 by President Chester A. Arthur and replaced by Gilbert Pierce.

Further CV

After his dismissal Ordway remained for some years in Dakota, where he represented the interests of the Northern Pacific Railway Company. He was also an opponent of the separation of the territory in the states of North and South Dakota. In the 1890s, he returned to New Hampshire, where he operated two farms and spent the rest of his life.