# Winfield Scott Hammond *American politician; 18th governor of Minnesota (1915)* Winfield Scott Hammond (November 17, 1863 – December 30, 1915) was an American politician of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. He was the 18th [[Governor of Minnesota|governor of Minnesota]] from January 5, 1915, until his death on December 30, 1915. Before that, he represented Minnesota for four congresses in the [[United States House of Representatives]].[^1] He was the last Minnesota governor from the Minnesota Democratic Party as it existed before its merger with the Farmer-Labor Party, which created the [[Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party]]. He was also the second governor of the state to die in office. Joseph Alfred Arner Burnquist filled the vacancy.[^1] This record contains no primary documents of Hammond's administration, such as enactments, session laws or official messages. The account below rests on a single secondary source, the Wikipedia article, and attributes that article's characterizations to it.[^1] ## Biography Hammond was born in 1863 in Southborough, Massachusetts, to John Washington Hammond and Ellen P. (Panton) Hammond. His mother was a native of England.[^1] He completed both a bachelor's and a master's degree at Dartmouth College. At 21 he moved to [[Mankato]] and became principal of the city's high school. He read law while supervising schools in Watonwan County, and he later settled permanently in St. James, Minnesota. There he practiced law and built a political base.[^1] In 1892 Hammond, a Democrat in a largely Republican community, ran for Congress for the first time and lost. According to the Wikipedia article, support from both parties helped him win a House seat fourteen years later.[^1] He sat in the 60th, 61st, 62nd and 63rd congresses, from March 4, 1907, to January 6, 1915. He left the House before his fourth consecutive term ended.[^1] The source gives January 6, 1915, as the end of his House service and January 5, 1915, as the start of his governorship. The record does not explain this one-day overlap.[^1] ## As Governor Hammond won the 1914 Minnesota gubernatorial election after defeating Daniel W. Lawler in the primary. The article describes Lawler as a conservative.[^1] Endorsements published on November 1, 1914, came from President Woodrow Wilson, Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan and former Governor [[John Lind (politician)|John Lind]].[^1] As of the article's retrieval on October 25, 2026, it counts him among five Minnesota Democrats who have won the governorship while a Democrat held the presidency.[^1] After his election, Hammond was discussed as a possible presidential candidate. According to the article, he welcomed the idea and intended to run in 1920, when Wilson would no longer be a candidate.[^1] The Wikipedia article identifies the "county option bill," a restriction on liquor sales, as the principal legislation of his term and says prohibition advocates welcomed it. The article also reports that he had intended to reorganize state government to reduce bureaucracy and waste, and that his death cut that effort short. The record here holds no bill text, vote or session-law citation for either.[^1] While traveling in the South, Hammond contracted ptomaine poisoning. He died of a stroke at age 52 in Clinton, Louisiana, on December 30, 1915.[^1] The article says he had been "in office only eight months" when he fell ill. That figure does not match the article's own dates of service, January 5 to December 30, 1915.[^1] In 1926 a bust of Hammond by the sculptor Bryant Baker was placed in the [[Minnesota State Capitol]]. Its inscription calls him "a scholar in politics".[^1] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - Winfield Scott Hammond, Democrat, 18th governor of [[Minnesota]].[^1] ### What - U.S. Representative from Minnesota (60th–63rd congresses), then governor.[^1] ### When - Born November 17, 1863; died December 30, 1915.[^1] - Governor from January 5, 1915, to December 30, 1915.[^1] ### Where - Born in Southborough, Massachusetts; settled in St. James, Minnesota; died in Clinton, Louisiana.[^1] ### How - Died in office; Joseph Alfred Arner Burnquist filled the vacancy.[^1] ### How many - Second Minnesota governor to die in office. Per the Wikipedia article, he is one of five Minnesota Democrats elected governor while a Democrat was president.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Winfield Scott Hammond* (revision 1366590848, retrieved 2026-10-25) — birth and death dates, family, education, congressional service, 1914 election and endorsements, the county option bill, cause and place of death, and the Capitol bust. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winfield_Scott_Hammond