AUGUST 9

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY August 09, 2023 Elisha Ferry, the first Governor of Washington State Grand Old Partisan salutes Elisha Ferry, born August 9th 1825. He practiced law in Illinois and was elected Waukegan's first mayor. Outbreak of civil war, the Republican governor made him a colonel, tasked with recruiting and equipping volunteer regiments. This dynamo also served as bank commissioner. President Ulysses Grant appointed him surveyor general of Washington Territory. Ferry successfully asserted U.S. sovereignty over the San Juan Islands. Another accomplishment was overseeing construction of the Northern Pacific Railway. After eight years in office, he joined a law firm and headed a bank. Ferry "played a key role in Washington’s movement for statehood." October 1889, he won the governorship, by sixteen points over the Democrat nominee. Priority of his term was fiscal responsibility. A county and a mountain are named for him.