Washington Territory. Governor (1880-1884 : Newell)

William A. Newell was born in Franklin, Ohio, in 1817, his family having been among those who took up free government land there, following the Revolutionary War. He graduated from Rutgers College in 1836, and completed the medical course at the University of Pennsylvania in 1839. He then moved to New Jersey where he practiced medicine. He was elected to Congress from New Jersey in 1846 and 1848 and was called upon to attend former Pres. John Adams when he died on the floor of the House in 1848. In the same year he secured an appropriation of $10,000 to establish life-saving stations on the New Jersey coast, thus starting the National Coast Guard Service, of which he was superintendent from 1861 to 1864. He was elected governor of New Jersey in 1857 and in 1860 was returned to Congress. During this term he was for a time family physician to President Lincoln. In 1864 he was once again elected to Congress, but in 1867 he returned to the practice of medicine. In 1877, he again ran for governor of New Jersey, but was defeated by Civil War Gen. George McClellan. In 1880 he was appointed governor of Washington Territory by Pres. Rutherford B. Hayes.

The most important event during Newell's term as governor of Washington Territory was the completion of the Northern Pacific Railway along the northern route to Puget Sound. In his message to the legislature in 1883 he said: "To Washington it brings assurance of early greatness, by placing us in the very van of commercial importance on this newly opened highway of nations, including us in its circuit around the globe, and making our great waters the necessary counterparts of the seas of China and Japan, the North Sea of Europe, and the bays of Boston and New York." It was exactly thirty years since Gov. Isaac Stevens's survey had shown the practicality of the northern railway route. The arrival of the railroad in eastern Washington gave a tremendous boost to settlement in the early 1880s. By 1883 the population had grown to the point that the Legislature was moved to create six new counties in the area: Adams, Asotin, Douglas, Franklin, Kittitas and Lincoln.

Women's suffrage was a big issue during Newell's administration. Following a good deal of popular agitation, on 23 Nov. 1883 the legislature passed an act specifically defining the qualifications of electors, and declared: "Wherever the word 'his' occurs in the chapter aforesaid, it shall be construed to mean 'his or hers,' as the case may be." Women voted in the elections of 1884 and 1886, but in 1887 the Territorial Supreme Court ruled against the legislation in the Nevada Bloomer case. Newell was a "booster" of Washington, and on many occasions expressed his opinions on the brilliant future of the territory. He favored progressive legislation, promoted improvements in transportation, supported women's suffrage, and in many ways sought to attract to Washington the population necessary for development. At the end of his term in 1884 Governor Newell became U.S. Indian Inspector and was later surgeon of the U.S. Soldiers' and Sailors' Home. In 1899 he returned to New Jersey to practice medicine until his death in 1901.

From the description of Territorial Governor William A. Newell papers, 1880-1884. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70976355