Horace Austin
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters". Horace Austin (October 15, 1831Template:Spaced ndashNovember 2, 1905) was an American politician. He served as the sixth Governor of Minnesota from January 9, 1870, to January 7, 1874. He was a Republican.
Born in 1831 in Canterbury, Connecticut, the son of a prosperous Connecticut farmer and graduate of a private academy, Austin taught school briefly before studying law. He was 25 when he moved to Minnesota and began practicing law in St. Peter. Six years later he joined the local Frontier Guards at the outbreak of the Dakota War of 1862. During the ensuing campaigns against the Dakota Austin served as the Captain of Company B in the 1st Minnesota Cavalry Regiment.[1][2][3] He later. became a judge for the Sixth Judicial District. He selected future governor Andrew Ryan McGill as his personal secretary.
Governor
In 1869, Austin was ran for Governor. With a reputation for objectivity and disdain for contentious party politics, Austin would easily win the 1869 Minnesota gubernatorial election.
Austin was determined to bring legislative power to bear against the railroad barons. His advocacy of strictly regulated passenger and freight rates and his opposition to the wholesale allocation of state lands to railroad development earned him a second term, promising to "Shake the railroads over hell".[4] During his term the Minnesota Board of Health (a precursor to the Minnesota Department of Health) was established.[5]
Later Life
Remaining in the public sphere after leaving the governor's office, Austin served as third auditor of the U.S. Treasury in Washington, as register of the U.S. Land Office in Fargo, North Dakota, and finally as a railroad commissioner. He devoted his last 16 years to travel and relaxation at his Lake Minnetonka home. He died in 1905 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
References
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- Biographical information and his gubernatorial records are available for research use at the Minnesota Historical Society.
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