Edward J. Livernash

Edward James Livernash, subsequently Edward James de Nivernais (February 14, 1866 – June 1, 1938), was an American newspaperman and lawyer who served one term as a U.S. Representative representing the fourth congressional district of California from 1903 to 1905.[1][2]

Edward J. Livernash
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 4th district
In office
March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1905
Preceded byJulius Kahn
Succeeded byJulius Kahn
Personal details
Born(1866-02-14)February 14, 1866
Lower Calaveritas, California
DiedJune 1, 1938(1938-06-01) (aged 72)
Agnew, California
Political partyDemocratic/Union Labor
OccupationJournalist

Late in life Livernash adopted the French form of the family name, de Nivernais, by decree of court.[1]

Biography

Livernash was born in Lower Calaveritas, a California mining camp near San Andreas,[1] to an Irish mother and a father of French-Canadian descent,[3] and attended the common schools of California.[1] He became a printer at the age of fifteen, and a year later founded a country newspaper at Cloverdale, California.[1] He studied law in preparation for journalism, and in 1887 was admitted to the California bar.[1] In 1891, he joined the staff of the San Francisco Examiner and held various editorial posts there.[1]

In 1897 Livernash was sent by the Klondike miners as commissioner to the Dominion of Canada to urge a modification of onerous laws.[1]

in 1904, Livernash ran for Congress to represent California's 4th congressional district (San Francisco) in the Fifty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1905) on a Democratic and Union Labor ticket.[1][4] The dual nomination was unusual, and under then-prevailing California law, Livernash was required to choose which nomination would appear on the ballot; however, in October 1902 the California Supreme Court held that the provision limiting the ballot entry to a single nomination was not valid, and allowed both designations to appear.[5]

Livernash's opponents in the election were the incumbent, Republican Julius Kahn; Socialist Party candidate William Costly; and Prohibition Party candidate Joseph Rowell.[4] Livernash received 16,146 (49.17%) of the votes cast, compared to 16,005 (48.74%) cast for Kahn, with Costly and Rowell picking up the remaining 2.09%.[4] Kahn contested the election, charging that many of the votes in Livernash's plurality were illegally cast, but the election was upheld.[6]

Livernash served only one term, losing his reelection bid to Kahn in 1904.[7]

Later career and death

He became the managing editor of the Rocky Mountain News in 1906,[1] but resigned after only thirteen weeks after coming under criticism from Senator Thomas M. Patterson for an editorial published in December 1906.[8][9]

Livernash resided in France from 1909 to 1912, when he returned to the United States and settled near Belmont, California.[1] He engaged in study and literary pursuits.[1]

Livernash died in Agnew, California on June 1, 1938.[1] His remains were cremated at Cypress Lawn Cemetery in Colma, California.[1]

References
  1. United States Congress. "Edward James Livernash". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  2. "S. Doc. 58-1 - Fifty-eighth Congress. (Extraordinary session -- beginning November 9, 1903.) Official Congressional Directory for the use of the United States Congress. Compiled under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing by A.J. Halford. Special edition. Corrections made to November 5, 1903". GovInfo.gov. U.S. Government Printing Office. 9 November 1903. p. 7. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  3. "United States Census, 1880", FamilySearch, retrieved April 3, 2018
  4. "CA District 04 [1902]". OurCampaigns. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  5. Murphy v. Curry, 137 Cal. 479 (Cal. 1902).
  6. Contested election case of Julius Kahn vs. Edward J. Livernash, from the fourth congressional district of California. United States Govennment Printing Office. 1903. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  7. "CA District 04 [1904]". OurCampaigns. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  8. Hurt, Walter (1907). The Scarlet Shadow: A Story of the Great Colorado Conspiracy. Cripple Creek, Colorado: Appeal to Reason. p. v.
  9. Keating, Edward (1964). The Gentleman from Colorado: A Memoir. Sage Books. p. 206. Retrieved July 24, 2020.

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