US Saunders, Alvin - Governor, NE

Alvin Saunders​

Born: July 12, 1817

Birthplace: Fleming County, Kentucky

Father: Gunnell Saunders Jr. 1783 – 1848

(Buried: Mount Pleasant Old City Cemetery, Mount Pleasant, Iowa)​

Mother: Mary Mauzy 1784 – 1851

(Buried: Mount Pleasant Old City Cemetery, Mount Pleasant, Iowa)​

Wife: Marthena Barlow 1835 – 1928

(Buried: Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Omaha, Nebraska)​

Children:

Charles L. Saunders 1856 – 1927​

(Buried: Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Omaha, Nebraska)

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Mary Angeline "May" Saunders Harrison 1861 – 1944​

(Buried: Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Omaha, Nebraska)​

Political Party: Republican Party

Occupation before War:

1829: Moved with his father to Illinois from Kentucky​

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1836: Moved to Mount Pleasant, Iowa​

United States Postmaster for Mount Pleasant, Iowa for seven years​

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Mercantile and Banking Businessman in Mount Pleasant, Iowa​

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1846: Delegate to Iowa State Constitutional Convention​

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1854 – 1856: Iowa State Senator​

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1858 – 1860: Iowa State Senator​

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One of the Commissioners to organize Pacific Railroad Company​

Civil War Career:

1861: Appointed by President Lincoln Governor of Nebraska Territory​

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1861 – 1867: Governor of Nebraska Territory​

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His first proclamation as Governor was to organize companies for mustering the First Nebraska Volunteers Regiment.​

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1862: Organized volunteers to deal with the hostile Indians and border raiders.​

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Supporter of a trans–continental Railroad​

Occupation after War:

1861 – 1867: Governor of Nebraska Territory​

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Founder and President of State Bank of Nebraska​

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One of the original stockholders of Omaha Smelting Works​

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Executive of Omaha Real Estate and Trust Company​

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One of the founders of Omaha Real Estate Exchange​

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1868: Nebraska Delegate Republican Party National Convention​

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1877 – 1883: United States Senator from Nebraska​

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1877 – 1883: Member of Senate Indian Affairs Committee​

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1877 – 1881: Member of Senate Territories Committee​

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1881 – 1883: Chairman of Senate Territories Committee​

Died: November 1, 1899

Place of Death: Omaha, Nebraska

Age at time of Death: 82 years old

Burial Place: Forest Lawn Cemetery, Omaha, Nebraska

 

[Pollaco]

Final and longest serving governor of the Nebraska Territory. David Butler was elected Governor when Nebraska became a state in 1867. Butler was also the only Governor of Nebraska to be impeached. He supposedly misused $16, 000 from the state school fund.