lieutenant death_date birth_date alt term_end alma_mater death_place profession order term_start spouse image name predecessor birth_place party office successor religion article_title
james breathitt , jr. . 25 may 1967 23 january 1875 a wearing a suit color portrait of a man in his fifties december 8 , 1931 1924 valparaiso university pewee valley , kentucky lawyer 42nd december 13 , 1927 1923 susie steele flem d sampson.jpg flem d. sampson william j. fields laurel county , kentucky republican governor of appeals of kentucky chief justice of the kentucky court ruby laffoon methodist flem d. sampson

flem d. sampson

flemon davis `` flem '' sampson -lrb- january 23 , 1875 -- may 25 , 1967 -rrb- was the 42nd governor of kentucky , serving from 1927 to 1931 .
he graduated from valparaiso university in 1894 , and opened a law practice in barbourville , kentucky .
he formed a political alliance with future congressmen caleb powers and john robsion , both prominent republicans in the eastern part of the state .
by 1916 , he was serving on the kentucky court of appeals -- the state 's highest court -- having previously served as a county judge and circuit court judge .
in 1923 , he was elevated to chief justice of the court of appeals .
he served until 1927 , when he became the republican gubernatorial nominee .
the democrats nominated former governor and senator j. c. w. beckham to challenge sampson .
the primary issue in the campaign was whether to outlaw parimutuel betting at the state 's racetracks .
beckham favored the ban , while sampson opposed it .
a political machine known as the jockey club backed sampson , and several key democrats bolted the party after beckham 's nomination .
sampson won the governorship by over 32,000 votes , but every other republican on the ticket lost by small majorities .
the results suggested that some carefully coordinated vote swapping had occurred to ensure beckham 's defeat , but none was ever proven .
sampson 's term in office was a tumultuous one .
the 1928 legislature was dominated by democrats and was not particularly responsive to sampson 's proposals .
after the session , sampson was indicted for accepting gifts from textbook companies , but the charges were later dropped .
in 1929 , sampson removed democratic political boss ben johnson from his post as highway commissioner .
when legislators reconvened in 1930 , they retaliated by stripping sampson of many of his appointment powers and reinstalling johnson to his post .
later in the session , sampson proposed to allow samuel insull to dam the cumberland falls to generate hydroelectric power .
the general assembly instead voted to accept an offer from t. coleman du pont to purchase the falls and turn them into a state park .
the assembly voted to further restrict sampson 's powers in 1930 .
the end of sampson 's term was complicated by the economic realities of the great depression .
he called out the kentucky national guard to quell a violent mine strike in harlan county known as the battle of evarts .
following his term , sampson returned to barbourville and was re-elected as a circuit court judge .
he died may 25 , 1967 and was buried in barbourville cemetery .
