Nels H. Smith
Nels Hansen Smith (August 27, 1884 – July 5, 1976) was an American politician who served as the 18th Governor of Wyoming from 1939 until 1943. He was a Republican.
Nels Smith | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 18th Governor of Wyoming | |
| In office January 2, 1939 – January 4, 1943 | |
| Preceded by | Leslie Andrew Miller |
| Succeeded by | Lester C. Hunt |
| Member of the Wyoming House of Representatives | |
| In office 1919–1920 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 27, 1884 Gayville, Dakota Territory |
| Died | July 5, 1976 (aged 91) Spearfish, South Dakota, U.S. |
Biography
He was born on August 27, 1884, in Gayville in the Dakota Territory to Danish immigrants Margaret (née Larsen) and Peter Smith.[1][2]
Smith moved to Wyoming in 1907 and subsequently was elected to the Wyoming House of Representatives for the Fifteenth State Legislature. He lived in Crook County.
He was elected governor in 1938, defeating incumbent Governor Leslie A. Miller.[3]
In 1942, when it was proposed Japanese-Americans be relocated to Wyoming Governor Smith told Milton Eisenhower, “If you bring any Japs into my state they will be hanging from every tree.”[4]
He lost the 1942 election to Lester Hunt, a Democrat. In 1942, Smith and two partners bought Ranch A in Crook County, from the estate of Moses Annenberg; it is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
He died on July 5, 1976, in Spearfish, South Dakota.
Smith's granddaughter Connie Smith, 10 years old, disappeared in Lakeville, Connecticut (a part of Salisbury, Connecticut) while attending summer camp in 1952. He and his son, Connie's father, exhausted all resources trying to find her, but to no avail. She has never been found.[5]
References
- "South Dakota, Department of Health, Index to Births 1843-1914 and Marriages 1950-2016", FamilySearch, retrieved April 23, 2018
- "United States Census, 1900", FamilySearch, retrieved April 23, 2018
- "Nels Smith". Wyoming State Archives. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
- Reeves, Richard (April 21, 2015). Infamy: The Shocking Story of the Japanese American Internment in World War II (Kindle ed.). Henry Holt and Co.
- Dooling, Michael C. (2010). Clueless in New England: The Unsolved Disappearances of Paula Welden, Connie Smith & Katherine Hull. Carrollton Press. ISBN 9780962742439.
- Wyoming State Archives biography. Accessed January 17, 2007
