The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1906-09-06
John p. St. John, the Great Pro-
hibition Leader.
Makes His Home in BrownsviIIe-Some
Interesting Points in Career Of Man
Who Once Received 10000
Votes for President.

ton here, concluded that the fu-
ture ahead of this town was such
as to make it a good place in
which to make money. The de-
lightfuI climate and healthfulness
of the town made its attractions
as a place of residence irresistible,
and so this gentleman from
Kansas concluded to bring his
family here and go into bust
ness. The St. John Land and In
vestment company was the result,
in which the father and son, senior
and junior, are partners. So mod
estly and unostentatiously did this
quiet, businesslike gentleman go
about establishing himself in
Brownsville, that few at first sus-
pected him to be a person of ma
tional fame. Finally, however, his
identity as the great Prohibition
leader, who was two times gov
ernor of Kansas, and who headed
the Prohibition ticket as candidate
for president of the United States,
was discovered. And so Browns
vile came to realize that she had
been honcred by being chosen as a
home by man who has been not
only twice elected governor of his
state, but who received over $780,
900 votes for president.
a small pamphlet entitled The
Administrations of John P. ST.
John" has come to the editors
hand, giving the facts of his career.
From this it is learned that, like so
many of our foremost statesmen,
Mr.. St. John was a true son of the
soil, being born on a farm in In
diana. His early life was more or
less arduous. At an early age, he
went to California to seek fortune
in the gold mines, but with indif
ferent success. But he was ready
for any honest labor and so enter
ed into a contract to chop and de-
liver wood. In the midst of his toll,
he used his spare change to buy
law books studied them at night,
and thus laid the foundation for h 8
subsequent brilliant career.
At one time OH the Pacific coast
he enlisted and helped to fight the
Modoc Indians, being twice wound
ed in battle, and he still bears in
his body the point of a flint arrow
head as a reminder of those
strenuous days.
Mr.. St. John first practiced law
in Charleston, H., moving there
after a visit to the Hawaiian Is
lands.
The great war between the states
found him early in the ranks of
the Union army as a volunteer.
Later he became captain, and final
y for meritorious and gallant ser
vice was made lieutenant colonel
Of the 143rd Regiment of Illinois
volunteer infantry.
In 1869, Mr.. St John moved to
Oiathe, Kan and from that date
began his notable career as a factor
n the political life of that state. A
lifelong republican, he soon be-
zone leader of his party, and,
having first served as a membr of
he state senate, was elected gov
ernor Of Karsas in 1878, being re-
elected for the next term, and,
after much persuasion, accepted
he unprecedented honor of
for third term, being
defeated by a slender plurality.
Gov. St. Johns great life work,
however, has been for the cause of
From the day of his
arrival in Kansas, he was known
As an uncompromising foe to the
liquor traffic. In his first message
to the legislature, he dwelt upon
the subject of temperance and re-
legislation to restrict the
sale of iutoxicants.
The adoption of the prohibition
amendment during his first term
was considered his greatest achieve
rent, and made him famous