William Pickering (governor)

William Pickering ( born March 15, 1798 in Yorkshire, England; † April 22, 1873 in Illinois ) was an American politician and from 1862 to 1866, the fifth governor of Washington Territory.

Early years

William Pickering attended until 1820, the University of Oxford. A year later he came to the Edwards County, Illinois. There he acquired some land and he participated in different shops.

Political career

Between 1842 and 1852 Pickering was a deputy in the House of Representatives from Illinois. In 1860 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention, was nominated on the Abraham Lincoln as a presidential candidate. In 1862, President Lincoln offered him both a job at the American Embassy in England as well as the place of the governor in Washington Territory. Pickering chose the governor body. In June 1862, he arrived in his capital, Olympia. Pickering held that post until 1866. During this time the area was connected by telegraph with the East. He attended also to the health sector in its territory, and here he took special care of the mentally handicapped. Since there was no money for a suitable hospital, a contract was concluded with the nuns of the Sisters of Charity, who then took over the care of the disabled. In 1863, east -lying areas were separated and assigned to the Idaho Territory. The limit was set in the extreme southeast of the state on the Snake River. To the north of the confluence with the Clearwater River, the border than that Meridian was defined, which runs from this confluence of the Snake and Clearwater to the north. This meridian is not - as often assumed - exactly the 117th longitude, but is about three kilometers to the west. The remaining territory corresponds to the present boundaries of the State of Washington.

Further CV

After the end of his governorship Pickering returned to Illinois, where he died in 1873. He was married to Martha Flowers since 1824.