SC Governors – Coleman Livingston Blease, 1911-1915

Biographical Overview

• Born: October 8, 1868 near Newberry, South Carolina
  
• Died: January 19, 1942 in Columbia, South Carolina
  
• Buried: Rosemont Cemetery in Newberry, South Carolina
  
• Religion: Methodist Episcopalian
  
• Political Party: Democrat
  

Education

• Newberry College
• University of South Carolina
• Georgetown University - graduated 1889

Occupation

• Lawyer

Major Events and Accomplishments, 1st term, 1911–1913

• February 11, 1911 – The General Assembly adopted Henry Timrod's "Carolina" as the state song
  
• August 27-28, 1911 – A severe hurricane destroyed the rice crop, marking the end of the commercial growth of rice in South Carolina
  
• November 5, 1912 – Woodrow Wilson, who spent his teenage years with family in Columbia, was elected president of the United States
  

Major Events and Accomplishments, 2nd term, 1913–1915

• January 14, 1915 – Governor Blease resigned just five days before the end of his second term
  
• 1911-1915 – Over the course of his two terms in office, Governor Blease exercised his power to pardon over 1,500 times
  

Other Government Positions

• South Carolina House of Representatives, 1890-1894, 1899-1900
  
• South Carolina Senate, 1904-1908
  
• Mayor of Newberry, SC, 1910
  
• US Senate, 1925-1931
  

Other Accomplishments, Honors, Distinctions

• Blease was defeated in the 1922 Democratic gubernatorial primary by Thomas Gordon McLeod.
• Blease was defeated in the 1934 Democratic gubernatorial primary by Olin D. Johnston.
• Blease was defeated in the 1938 Democratic gubernatorial primary by Burnet Rhett Maybank.

Election Results

• On November 8, 1910, Blease was elected to his first term of governor without opposition, receiving 30,739 votes.
  
• On November 5, 1912, Blease was reelected without opposition, receiving 44,122 votes.
  

Web Resources

• Biographical information - US Congress
• Listing of records available at SC Archives and History Center