History of Salem, (Henry County) Iowa United States of America

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Lorenzo D. Lewelling, governor of Kansas, was born at Salem, Iowa, Dec. 21, 1846; son of William and Cyrena (Wilson) Lewelling. His ancestors were among the pioneer settlers of Virginia and his father was a Quaker preacher. Lorenzo was left an orphan at an early age, and worked on a farm, attending a district school in the winter. He was employed as a laborer on the Burlington and Missouri railroad; as a cattle herder in the quartermaster's department, St. Louis, Mo., 1861-68, and as a member of the bridge building corps at Chattanooga, Tenn., 1863-65. At the close of the war he attended Knox college, Galesburg, I11., and subsequently Eastman's business college at Poughkeepsie, N.Y. He returned to Salem, Iowa, in 1866; was employed in bridge building near Ottumwa, and was graduated from Whittier college. He was a teacher in the preparatory department of Whittier college; was connected with the state reform school as teacher and assistant superintendent for many years, and was president of the board of trustees of the state normal school. He founded the Register at Salem, Iowa, a weekly Republican journal, and in 1880 the Capital at Des Moines, Iowa, which he edited until December, 1882. He was a candidate for the Republican nomination for secretary of state, but was defeated by Frank D. Jackson. He removed to Wichita, Kan., in 1887, and in 1892 was elected by the Populist party governor of Kansas. He was renominated in 1894, but a woman suffrage plank in the platform defeated the party, the Democrats refusing to give it their support. In 1896 he was elected state senator, and in 1897 was appointed a state railway commissioner. He died in Arkansas City, Kan., Sept. 3, 1900.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Salem, (Henry County) Iowa

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