John Coit Spooner

John C. Spooner
John C. Spooner
United States Senator; from Wisconsin
	In office; March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1891
Preceded by	Angus Cameron
Succeeded by	William F. Vilas
	In office; March 4, 1897 – April 30, 1907
Preceded by	William F. Vilas
Succeeded by	Isaac Stephenson
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly; from the St. Croix district
	In office; January 1, 1872 – January 1, 1873
Preceded by	Revel K. Fay
Succeeded by	David C. Fulton
Personal details
Born	January 6, 1843; Lawrenceburg, Indiana
Died	June 11, 1919 (aged 76); New York City, New York
Resting place	Forest Hill Cemetery; Madison, Wisconsin
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Annie Elizabeth Main; (m. 1868; died 1930);
Children	Charles Philip Spooner; (b. 1869; died 1947); Willet Main Spooner; (b. 1871; died 1928); John C. Spooner; (b. 1877; died 1881); Philip Loring Spooner; (b. 1879; died 1945);
Mother	Lydia Lord (Coit) Spooner
Father	Philip Loring Spooner
Education	University of Wisconsin–Madison
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army; Union Army
Years of service	1864–1866
Rank	Captain, USV; Brevet Major, USV;
Unit	40th Reg. Wis. Vol. Infantry; 50th Reg. Wis. Vol. Infantry;
Battles/wars	American Civil War

John Coit Spooner (January 6, 1843 – June 11, 1919) was a politician and lawyer from Wisconsin. He served in the United States Senate from 1885 to 1891 and from 1897 to 1907. A Republican, by the 1890s, he was one of the "Big Four" key Republicans who largely controlled the major decisions of the Senate, along with Orville H. Platt of Connecticut, William B. Allison of Iowa and Nelson W. Aldrich of Rhode Island.

Early life[]

Portrait of John Coit Spooner, in 1899.

Spooner was born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana on January 6, 1843, the son of Philip Loring Spooner and Lydia (Coit) Spooner.^[1] Philip Spooner was an attorney and judge and served on the bench in both Indiana and Wisconsin.^[2] Spooner moved with his parents to Madison, Wisconsin, in 1859.^[3] He attended the common schools and graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Philosophy (Philosophiae Baccalaureus, or P.B.) degree in 1864.^[4]^[a] While in college, Spooner joined the Psi Upsilon fraternity^[5] and was admitted to membership in Phi Beta Kappa.^[6]

Military service[]

During the Civil War, he enlisted in the Union Army as a private assigned to Company D, 40th Wisconsin Infantry, a three-month unit.^[2] After Spooner's 100 days of service were complete, he returned home and recruited a company from his college classmates, Company A, 50th Wisconsin Infantry, which he commanded as a captain.^[3] At the close of the war, Spooner received a brevet promotion to major.^[7]

Start of career[]

After the war, Spooner served as private secretary to Wisconsin Governor Lucius Fairchild,^[8] and then the governor's military secretary with the rank of colonel^[9] He later served as quartermaster general of the Wisconsin Militia with the rank of brigadier general.^[10] He studied law with his father from 1865 to 1867, and he was admitted to the bar in 1867.^[9]

After becoming a lawyer, Spooner was appointed assistant attorney general of Wisconsin and he served from 1869 to 1870.^[9] In 1869, Spooner received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from the University of Wisconsin.^[11]^[12] Spooner moved to Hudson in 1870, and practiced law there from 1870 to 1884.^[7] He established himself in the field of railroad and corporation law, and served as counsel for the West Wisconsin Railway and Chicago, St. Paul and Minneapolis Railway.^[9]

Spooner was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1872.^[3] He was a member of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents from 1882 to 1886.^[3]

United States Senator[]

He was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate January 27, 1885,^[8] and served from 1885 to 1891, being defeated for re-election by William F. Vilas.^[9] He served as chairman of the Committee on Claims from 1886 to 1891.^[13]

In 1888 and again in 1892, Spooner was a delegate to the Republican National Convention and was the chairman of Wisconsin's delegation.^[14] Spooner was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for governor of Wisconsin in 1892.^[9] After his election defeat, he moved to Madison and resumed practicing law in 1893.^[9]

In 1897, Spooner was elected to the U.S. Senate, succeeding Vilas.^[9] He was reelected in 1903,^[9] and served from 1897 until his resignation in 1907.^[13] He served as chairman of the Committee on Canadian Relations from 1897 to 1899 and of the Committee on Rules from 1899 to 1907.^[13]

As a Senator, Spooner was credited with the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 provision that enabled the government to prosecute Standard Oil.^[15] He also promoted the legislation which created a civil government for the Philippines following the Spanish–American War.^[15] He was the author of the Spooner Act, which gave President Theodore Roosevelt authority to purchase the Panama Canal Zone.^[15] A popular figure among Republicans, he turned down three cabinet posts during his political career: Secretary of the Interior in President William McKinley's administration in 1898,^[14] Attorney General under President McKinley in 1901,^[14] and Secretary of State in President William Howard Taft's administration in 1909.^[13]

Spooner and fellow Wisconsin Senator, Robert M. La Follette, were known to be bitter rivals.^[16] Spooner disagreed with La Follette's progressive policies, which were opposed to his own conservative policies.^[16] Spooner was also one of the early opponents of direct primary elections.^[17] At the time, party nominees were selected by the party officials, sometimes by party bosses.^[17] Spooner's view of political campaigns if direct primaries became standard was:

Direct primaries would destroy the party machinery ... and would build up a lot of personal machines, and would make every man a self-seeker, and would degrade politics by turning candidacies into bitter personal wrangles.^[18]

Later life[]

After his retirement from the Senate, he practiced law in New York City.^[19]^[20] In 1910, Spooner and Joseph P. Cotton formed the firm of Spooner & Cotton, where Spooner practiced until his death.^[19]^[20]

Death and burial[]

Spooner died on June 11, 1919, at his home on 205 West 57th Street in Manhattan,^[8]^[15] following a nervous breakdown.^[21]^[22] He was interred in Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison, Wisconsin.^[22]

Awards and honors[]

Spooner received the honorary degree of LL.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1894.^[11] He also received honorary LL.D. degrees from Yale University in 1908^[23] and Columbia University (1909).^[24]

Family[]

In 1868, Spooner married Annie Main of Madison.^[14] They were the parents of four children, three of whom lived to adulthood^[14]—Charles Philip Spooner (1869–1947), Willet Main Spooner (1871–1928), John C. Spooner (1877–1881), and Philip Loring Spooner (1879–1945).^[21]

Notes[]

^ Many sources incorrectly state that Spooner received a Ph.D. This appears to be a misreading of the abbreviation for his bachelor's degree, which was occasionally abbreviated as B.Ph. or Ph.B.

References[]

^ Gates, Merrill Edwards (1905). Men of Mark in America. Washington, DC: Mn of Mark Publishing Company. p. 318 – via Internet Archive.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Men of Mark in America, p. 318.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d "Historical Essay: John Coit Spooner (1843–1919)". Wisconsin History.org. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
^ University of Wisconsin (1867). Catalogue of the University of Wisconsin for the Academic Year 1866–67. Madison, WI: State Journal Book and Job Printing House. p. 46.
^ Wertheimer, Leo Weldon, ed. (1917). General Catalogue of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity. Indianapolis, IN: Psi Upsilon Fraternity. p. 692 – via Internet Archive.
^ Morgan, Bayard Quincy, ed. (1917). Catalogue, Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha of Wisconsin. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin. pp. 79, 84 – via Google Books.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Berryman, John R., ed. (1898). History of the bench and bar of Wisconsin. vol. 2. Chicago: H. C. Cooper, Jr. pp. 381–399. Retrieved January 31, 2020. |volume= has extra text (help)
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c "Senator Spooner". Wisconsin State Journal. June 11, 1919. p. 10. Retrieved September 21, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Men of Mark in America, p. 319.
^ Wisconsin Secretary of State (1869). The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin. Madison, WI: Atwood & Rublee, State Printers. p. 195 – via Google Books.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Thwaites, Reuben Gold (1900). "Biography, John C. Spooner". Biographical Sketches of Representative Alumni. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Electronic Reader. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
^ Loeb, Max (1907). General Catalogue of the Officers and Graduates of the University of Wisconsin, 1849–1907 (PDF). Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin. p. 56 – via Library of Congress.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d United States Congress (2005). Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–2005. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. p. 1865. ISBN 9780872891241 – via Google Books.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Men of Mark in America, p. 320.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d "John C. Spooner Dies In City Home" (PDF). New York Times. New York, NY. June 11, 1919. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Bie, Michael (2007). It Happened in Wisconsin. Guilford, CT: TwoDot. pp. 48–51. ISBN 978-0-7627-5358-1 – via Google Books.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Ranney, Joseph A. (March 7, 2012). "Great Wisconsin lawyers: John C. Spooner". History of the Courts. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Court System.
^ Eigen's Political & Historical Quotations Archived August 30, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Personal: Spooner & Cotton". The Wall Street Journal. New York, NY. July 10, 1910. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Hoover Selects Lawyer as New Mexican Envoy". Shamokin News-Dispatch. Shamokin, PA. March 28, 1930. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "John C. Spooner in Grave Plight". The Daily News and the Times. May 22, 1919. p. 1. Retrieved September 22, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Sen. Spooner to Be Buried in This City". The Capital Times. June 11, 1919. p. 1. Retrieved September 22, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Yale University (1914). Directory of the Living Graduates of Yale University. Meriden, CT: The Curtiss-Way Co. p. 403 – via HathiTrust.
^ Committee on the General Catalogue (1916). Catalogue of Officers and Graduates of Columbia University. New York, NY: Columbia University. p. 1097 – via HathiTrust.

External links[]

United States Congress. "John Coit Spooner (id: S000741)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2008-02-15
"John Coit Spooner". Find a Grave. Retrieved February 15, 2008.

Party political offices
Preceded by William D. Hoard	Republican nominee for Governor of Wisconsin 1892	Succeeded by William H. Upham
U.S. Senate
Preceded by Angus Cameron	U.S. senator (Class 3) from Wisconsin March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1891 Served alongside: Philetus Sawyer	Succeeded by William F. Vilas
Preceded by William F. Vilas	U.S. senator (Class 3) from Wisconsin March 4, 1897 – April 30, 1907 Served alongside: John L. Mitchell, Joseph V. Quarles and Robert M. La Follette, Sr.	Succeeded by Isaac Stephenson

[5] Many sources incorrectly state that Spooner received a Ph.D. This appears to be a misreading of the abbreviation for his bachelor's degree, which was occasionally abbreviated as B.Ph. or Ph.B.

[1] Gates, Merrill Edwards (1905). Men of Mark in America. Washington, DC: Mn of Mark Publishing Company. p. 318 – via Internet Archive.

[FOOTNOTE''Men_of_Mark_in_America''318-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b Men of Mark in America, p. 318.

[Wisconsin_History-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d "Historical Essay: John Coit Spooner (1843–1919)". Wisconsin History.org. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved February 1, 2020.

[4] University of Wisconsin (1867). Catalogue of the University of Wisconsin for the Academic Year 1866–67. Madison, WI: State Journal Book and Job Printing House. p. 46.

[6] Wertheimer, Leo Weldon, ed. (1917). General Catalogue of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity. Indianapolis, IN: Psi Upsilon Fraternity. p. 692 – via Internet Archive.

[7] Morgan, Bayard Quincy, ed. (1917). Catalogue, Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha of Wisconsin. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin. pp. 79, 84 – via Google Books.

[bench-8] Jump up to: ^a ^b Berryman, John R., ed. (1898). History of the bench and bar of Wisconsin. vol. 2. Chicago: H. C. Cooper, Jr. pp. 381–399. Retrieved January 31, 2020. |volume= has extra text (help)

[Obit2-9] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c "Senator Spooner". Wisconsin State Journal. June 11, 1919. p. 10. Retrieved September 21, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.

[FOOTNOTE''Men_of_Mark_in_America''319-10] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Men of Mark in America, p. 319.

[11] Wisconsin Secretary of State (1869). The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin. Madison, WI: Atwood & Rublee, State Printers. p. 195 – via Google Books.

[Thwaites-12] Jump up to: ^a ^b Thwaites, Reuben Gold (1900). "Biography, John C. Spooner". Biographical Sketches of Representative Alumni. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Electronic Reader. Retrieved January 31, 2020.

[13] Loeb, Max (1907). General Catalogue of the Officers and Graduates of the University of Wisconsin, 1849–1907 (PDF). Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin. p. 56 – via Library of Congress.

[Directory-14] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d United States Congress (2005). Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–2005. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. p. 1865. ISBN 9780872891241 – via Google Books.

[FOOTNOTE''Men_of_Mark_in_America''320-15] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Men of Mark in America, p. 320.

[Times-16] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d "John C. Spooner Dies In City Home" (PDF). New York Times. New York, NY. June 11, 1919. Retrieved January 25, 2015.

[Bie-17] Jump up to: ^a ^b Bie, Michael (2007). It Happened in Wisconsin. Guilford, CT: TwoDot. pp. 48–51. ISBN 978-0-7627-5358-1 – via Google Books.

[Courts-18] Jump up to: ^a ^b Ranney, Joseph A. (March 7, 2012). "Great Wisconsin lawyers: John C. Spooner". History of the Courts. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Court System.

[19] Eigen's Political & Historical Quotations Archived August 30, 2006, at the Wayback Machine

[WSJ-20] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Personal: Spooner & Cotton". The Wall Street Journal. New York, NY. July 10, 1910. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.

[Dispatch-21] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Hoover Selects Lawyer as New Mexican Envoy". Shamokin News-Dispatch. Shamokin, PA. March 28, 1930. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.

[Plight-22] Jump up to: ^a ^b "John C. Spooner in Grave Plight". The Daily News and the Times. May 22, 1919. p. 1. Retrieved September 22, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.

[Obit3a-23] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Sen. Spooner to Be Buried in This City". The Capital Times. June 11, 1919. p. 1. Retrieved September 22, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.

[24] Yale University (1914). Directory of the Living Graduates of Yale University. Meriden, CT: The Curtiss-Way Co. p. 403 – via HathiTrust.

[25] Committee on the General Catalogue (1916). Catalogue of Officers and Graduates of Columbia University. New York, NY: Columbia University. p. 1097 – via HathiTrust.

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show v t United States senators from Wisconsin
Class 1	Dodge Doolittle Carpenter Cameron Sawyer Mitchell Quarles La Follette Sr. La Follette Jr. McCarthy Proxmire Kohl Baldwin
Class 3	Walker Durkee Howe Carpenter Cameron Spooner Vilas Spooner Stephenson Husting Lenroot Blaine Duffy Wiley Nelson Kasten Feingold Johnson

show v t Chairs of the United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration
Rules (1870–1947)	Ferry Blaine Morgan Frye Aldrich Blackburn Aldrich Spooner Knox Crane Overman Knox Curtis Moses Copeland Neely Byrd
Rules and Administration (1947–Present)	Brooks Hayden Jenner Green Hennings Mansfield Jordan Cannon Pell Mathias Ford Stevens Warner McConnell Dodd McConnell Dodd Lott Feinstein Schumer Blunt Shelby Blunt Klobuchar

show v t Wisconsin's delegation(s) to the 49th–51st & 55th–60th United States Congresses (ordered by seniority)
49th	Senate: P. Sawyer • J. Spooner	House: L. Caswell • E. Bragg • R. Guenther • J. Rankin • W. Price • I. Stephenson • R. La Follette Sr. • O. Thomas • I. Van Schaick • T. Hudd • H. Price
50th	Senate: P. Sawyer • J. Spooner	House: L. Caswell • R. Guenther • I. Stephenson • R. La Follette Sr. • O. Thomas • T. Hudd • C. Clark • N. Haugen • H. Smith
51st	Senate: P. Sawyer • J. Spooner	House: L. Caswell • R. La Follette Sr. • O. Thomas • C. Clark • N. Haugen • I. Van Schaick • C. Barwig • G. Brickner • M. McCord
55th	Senate: J. Mitchell • J. Spooner	House: J. Babcock • H. Cooper • M. Griffin • S. Barney • J. Jenkins • E. Minor • T. Otjen • E. Sauerhering • A. Stewart • J. Davidson
56th	Senate: J. Spooner • J. Quarles	House: J. Babcock • H. Cooper • S. Barney • J. Jenkins • E. Minor • T. Otjen • A. Stewart • J. Davidson • H. Dahle • J. Esch
57th	Senate: J. Spooner • J. Quarles	House: J. Babcock • H. Cooper • S. Barney • J. Jenkins • E. Minor • T. Otjen • J. Davidson • H. Dahle • J. Esch • W. Brown
58th	Senate: J. Spooner • J. Quarles	House: J. Babcock • H. Cooper • J. Jenkins • E. Minor • T. Otjen • J. Davidson • J. Esch • W. Brown • H. Adams • W. Stafford • C. Weisse
59th	Senate: J. Spooner • R. La Follette Sr.	House: J. Babcock • H. Cooper • J. Jenkins • E. Minor • T. Otjen • J. Davidson • J. Esch • W. Brown • H. Adams • W. Stafford • C. Weisse • J. Nelson
60th	Senate: J. Spooner • R. La Follette Sr. • I. Stephenson	House: H. Cooper • J. Jenkins • J. Davidson • J. Esch • W. Stafford • C. Weisse • J. Nelson • W. Cary • J. Murphy • G. Küstermann • E. Morse

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