Robert Waterman (governor)

Robert Waterman (* December 15, 1826 in Fairfield, Herkimer County, New York, † April 12, 1891 in San Diego, California ) was an American politician and the 17th Governor of California.

Life

Youth

The young Waterman moved from New York to Illinois and became shopkeepers and mail agent. 1849 seized him the gold fever. He decided to go to California, there to make his fortune. With a team of oxen he went on his way. He first tried it as a gold prospector, and then again as a shopkeeper. Finally, he returned to Illinois, where he co-founded in 1854 the Republican Party was. In 1856 he was next to Abraham Lincoln, the second delegate from Illinois to the first Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. In the presidential elections in 1860, he helped Lincoln 's electoral victory in Illinois.

Politicians in California

Upon returning to California, he had a gold mine of success, the daily earned him $ 50,000. Then he ran with a partner in an even more successful silver mine and finally he bought yet added a profitable gold mine. On the edge, he was also involved in the railroad business by he participated in the development of a railway line. Politically, he was also active. Under Governor Washington Bartlett, he was its vice- governor. Bartlett died after just nine months in office and Waterman fell to the governorship, which he held until the end of the legislature in 1891. His nickname was " Old Honesty", in German as " The Honorable ." He earned this name by his principles: he detested dishonesty, drunkenness and waste. He criticized the state Legislature because there were employed 228 employees, although only 35 bodies were intended. A major point of contention in his tenure was the question of whether California should be divided. This plan was eventually discarded.

Evening of life and death

Waterman retired in January 1891 from his office after he had rejected a bid again for health reasons. It remained for him not much time for his retirement. He died a few weeks later, in April of the same year in San Diego. He was married to Jane Gardner since 1847. The couple had six children ( three sons and three daughters ).