Francis G. Newlands

Francis G. Newlands
United States Senator from Nevada
In office March 4, 1903 – December 24, 1917
Preceded by	John P. Jones
Succeeded by	Charles B. Henderson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Nevada's At-Large district
In office March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1903
Preceded by	Horace F. Bartine
Succeeded by	Clarence D. Van Duzer
Personal details
Born	Francis Griffith Newlands (1846-08-28)August 28, 1846 Natchez, Mississippi
Died	Washington, D.C.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Clara Adelaide Sharon, died birthing 4th child in 1882. Second wife: Edith McCallister married 1888
Residence	Reno
Profession	Attorney, Politician

Francis Griffith Newlands (August 28, 1846 – December 24, 1917) was a United States Representative and Senator from Nevada. A supporter of westward expansion, he helped pass the Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902, which created the Bureau of Reclamation and boosted the agricultural industry by building dams to support irrigation in the arid Western states. Newlands also founded the neighborhoods of Chevy Chase, Washington, D.C.; and Chevy Chase, Maryland.

An avowed white supremacist, Senator Newlands argued publicly for racial restrictions on immigration and repealing the 15th Amendment.

Early life

Newlands was born in Natchez, Mississippi, on August 28, 1846, to Jessie and James Newlands, immigrants from Scotland. Sources vary as to whether Newlands was born in 1846 or 1848. Newlands was the fourth of five children. His father, trained as a physician in Edinburgh, died in 1851. Newlands was raised in Illinois and Washington, D.C.

In 1867, he went to Yale University. In 1869, he graduated from Columbian College, which is now George Washington University Law School. He was admitted to the bar in 1869. In 1901, he received an honorary M.A. degree.

Career

In 1870, Newlands moved to San Francisco, California. He married Clara Adelaide Sharon, the daughter of Nevada senator William Sharon, in 1874. They had three daughters. Newlands helped William Sharon to reopen the Bank of California, and supervised the management of the Palace Hotel, San Francisco. When Newlands’ wife died, he inherited the Sharon estate. Newlands married Edith McAllister and moved to Nevada in 1888.

Land developer

In the late 1880s, Newlands and his partners began to acquire farmland in northwestern Washington, D.C., and southern Montgomery County, Maryland, in order to develop a residential streetcar suburb for the nation's capital. On June 23, 1888, Newlands chartered the Rock Creek Railway for a single-track streetcar. Newlands and his partners purchased over 1,700 acres and formed the Chevy Chase Land Company in 1890. Between 1890 and 1892, the Land Company built two bridges, constructed five miles of road, and laid streetcar tracks along the road. The Rock Creek Railway opened in 1892.

Newlands created the Chevy Chase Springs Hotel (later the Chevy Chase School for Girls, now the 4-H Youth Conference Center), and a lake which powered an electric generating plant for the railway. Chevy Chase Lake was created by damming Coquelin Run. In 1894, an amusement park was created on the lake. Newlands ensured the community included schools, churches, country clubs, an infrastructure featuring tree-lined streets, a water supply and a sewage system. Groceries and daily purchases were brought from Washington, D.C., on the railway at no charge to residents.

In 1893, Newlands began to subdivide the San Francisco property in Burlingame, California, he inherited, beginning with the Burlingame Country Club and five cottages. The following year, he added the Burlingame train station.

U.S. Representative

Newlands, a Democrat, represented Nevada in the United States House of Representatives from 1893 to 1903. In 1898, he created the Newlands Resolution, which annexed the Republic of Hawaii, creating a new territory. He supported a greater federal role in conservation and pushed for federal funding of western arid land irrigation projects. He helped pass the Reclamation Act of 1902, also called the Newlands Act, which created what would become the Bureau of Reclamation.

U.S. Senator

Newlands entered the United States Senate in 1903. He supported the protection of the National Forests under the United States Forest Service in 1905, and the creation of the National Park Service in 1916. He was a member of the Senate subcommittee that investigated the 1912 sinking of RMS Titanic. In 1916, he was the only Democratic senator to vote against the nomination of Louis Brandeis to the U.S. Supreme Court. He served until his death in Washington, D.C., on December 24, 1917. He died of heart failure in his home.

Legacy

Newlands held white supremacist beliefs and spoke publicly in favor of restricting the rights of African-Americans.

The Francis Griffith Newlands Memorial Fountain in Chevy Chase Circle, a federal park that divides D.C. and Maryland, honors his achievements in irrigation. In 2014, a member of the Chevy Chase advisory neighborhood commission proposed a resolution calling for the removal of Newlands’ name from the fountain because of his views on race. Others believe that Chevy Chase should not alter the monument because the change would belittle Newlands' legislative accomplishments.

Newlands' former mansion in Reno is one of six properties in Nevada designated as a National Historic Landmark. Many notable people, including Barbara Hutton in 1935, stayed at the house while waiting for their divorce paperwork to be finalized by George Thatcher, a local divorce lawyer who purchased the home in 1920.

See also

• National Irrigation Congress

External links

• Francis G. Newlands at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Horace F. Bartine	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Nevada's at-large congressional district 1893–1903	Succeeded by Clarence D. Van Duzer
United States Senate
Preceded by John P. Jones	U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Nevada 1903–1917 Served alongside: William M. Stewart, George S. Nixon, William A. Massey, Key Pittman	Succeeded by Charles B. Henderson
Political offices
Preceded by Moses E. Clapp Minnesota	Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce 1913–1917	Succeeded by Ellison D. Smith South Carolina