# Adolph Olson Eberhart *American politician who served as the 17th governor of Minnesota (1909–1915)* Adolph Olson Eberhart (June 30, 1870 – December 6, 1944) was a Republican politician and the 17th [[Governor of Minnesota]]. He held the office from September 21, 1909, to January 5, 1915.[^1] He rose from the lieutenant governorship when Democratic Governor [[John Albert Johnson]] died, and he then won the post twice at the polls in his own right.[^1] Before becoming governor, Eberhart sat in the Minnesota State Senate and was elected lieutenant governor in 1906. Capital punishment in the state ended in 1911, during his administration. A special legislative session in 1912 enacted rural school consolidation and primary elections. He later lost a bid for a fourth term and was defeated in the 1916 U.S. Senate primary.[^1] ## Background Eberhart was born in Kil, Värmland, Sweden, the son of Andrew and Louise Olson. Facing poor economic conditions, the family emigrated to St. Peter, [[Minnesota]], without Adolph, who followed them in 1882.[^1] He finished his studies at Gustavus Adolphus College in 1895 and then read law in an office in [[Mankato]], Minnesota.[^1] ## Career Eberhart was elected to the Minnesota State Senate in 1902, when he was its youngest member, and he served there from 1903 to 1907.[^1] In 1906 he won election as the state's 17th lieutenant governor, alongside Johnson, a Democrat.[^1] Until 1974, Minnesota chose its governor and lieutenant governor in separate contests, so the two officeholders sometimes belonged to different parties, as Johnson and Eberhart did.[^1] Eberhart succeeded to the governorship on September 21, 1909, upon Johnson's death, and completed that partial term. He was then elected to the office twice more and left it on January 5, 1915.[^1] ### As governor Minnesota ended capital punishment in 1911, and the cached article lists this among Eberhart's reforms.[^1] In 1912 he convened a special legislative session that lasted 13 days and enacted rural school consolidation and primary elections. The cached article describes these measures as progressive reforms and ties the session to his re-nomination campaign that year.[^1] He was then re-nominated for a second full term in the state's first statewide primary.[^1] Because he was born abroad, he often stated that he was "in every sense an American and not a 'Swede' Governor."[^1] Eberhart did not win re-nomination for a fourth term, and his loss in the 1916 primary for the U.S. Senate ended his political career.[^1] He then worked as a real estate and insurance executive in Chicago. He later retired to a rest home, where he died of pneumonia on December 6, 1944.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Adolph Olson Eberhart* (revision 1365102311, retrieved 2026-10-25) — Eberhart's birth, family, education, legislative and gubernatorial service, party affiliation, reforms, later career and death. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolph_Olson_Eberhart