lieutenant governor predecessor successor death_date birth_place death_place party office birth_date order term_start spouse image article_title term_end name
'' vacant '' ossian b. hart ossian b. hart samuel t. day george franklin drew noble a. hull 8 december 1891 lovell , maine palatine bridge , new york republican governor of florida lieutenant governor of florida 29 april 1839 11th 5th march 18 , 1874 january 7 , 1873 none florida governor marcellus stearns.png marcellus stearns
 january 2 , 1877 march 18 , 1874 marcellus lovejoy stearns
marcellus stearns

marcellus lovejoy stearns -lrb- april 29 , 1839 -- december 8 , 1891 -rrb- was an american politician .
he served as the 11th governor of florida , from 1874 to 1877 .
born in lovell , maine on april 29 , 1839 , he attended colby college and in 1861 left to join the union army .
he lost an arm during the battle of opequon , after which he was sent by the army to study law .
he was sent to quincy , florida , where he remained after being discharged .
he was a member of the florida constitutional convention of 1868 , and the florida house of representatives from 1868 through 1872 , serving as speaker in 1869 .
he was elected the fifth lieutenant governor in 1872 .
he became governor on march 18 , 1874 when governor ossian b. hart died from pneumonia .
stearns attempted to force jonathan clarkson gibbs to resign his post as superintendent of public instruction , but was unsuccessful due to gibbs ' immense popularity .
after leaving office on january 2 , 1877 , he was appointed u.s. commissioner in hot springs , arkansas , a post he held until 1880 .
he died in palatine bridge , new york , on december 8 , 1891 .
he is buried in center lovell , maine .
after he left office on 2 january 1877 , there was no republican governor of florida until 1967 .
