John E. Weeks Explained

John Eliakim Weeks
State1:Vermont
Term Start1:March 4, 1931
Term End1:March 3, 1933
Preceded1:Elbert S. Brigham
Succeeded1:Constituency abolished
Order2:61st
Office2:Governor of Vermont
Term Start2:January 6, 1927
Term End2:January 8, 1931
Lieutenant2:Hollister Jackson
Stanley C. Wilson
Predecessor2:Franklin S. Billings
Successor2:Stanley C. Wilson
Office3:Vermont Commissioner of Public Welfare
Term Start3:1923
Term End3:1926
Predecessor3:New position
Successor3:William H. Dyer
Office4:Vermont Director of State Institutions
Term4:1917–1923
Predecessor4:New position
Successor4:Position eliminated (Consolidated with Commissioner of Public Welfare)
Office5:Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives
Term5:1915–1917
Predecessor5:Charles Albert Plumley
Successor5:Stanley C. Wilson
Office6:Member of the Vermont House of Representatives
Term Start6:1912
Term End6:1917
Predecessor6:Joseph Battell
Successor6:Ira H. LaFleur
Constituency6:Middlebury
Term Start7:1888
Term End7:1890
Predecessor7:Charles F. Kingsley
Successor7:Horace P. Hulett
Constituency7:Salisbury
Office8:Member of the Vermont Senate
Term Start8:1896
Term End8:1898
Alongside8:Ashbel A. Dean
Predecessor8:David Henry Lewis, William Nichols Platt
Successor8:Millard F. Barnes, Gustavus R. Walker
Constituency8:Addison County
Office9:Assistant Judge of Addison County, Vermont
Term Start9:1892
Term End9:1894
Predecessor9:Moses B. Gove, W. Harrison Bingham
Successor9:Henry R. Baldwin, Royal J. Flint
Alongside9:Emerson Holland (to 1894), Warren Barnes (1894)
Birth Name:John Eliakim Weeks
Birth Date:June 14, 1853
Birth Place:Salisbury, Vermont. U.S.
Death Place:Middlebury, Vermont, U.S.
Restingplace:West Salisbury Cemetery, Salisbury, Vermont, U.S.
Spouse:Hattie Jane Dyer (m. 1879)
Profession:Banker
Businessman
Party:Republican

John Eliakim Weeks (June 14, 1853 – September 10, 1949) was an American politician from Vermont. He served as the 61st governor of Vermont from 1927 to 1931.

Early life

Weeks was born in Salisbury, Vermont, on June 14, 1853, the son of Ebenezer Weeks and Elizabeth (Dyer) Weeks. He attended the county schools and Middlebury High School. He married Hattie J. Dyer of Salisbury in 1879.[1] She died in 1942, and they had no children.

Career

Weeks operated a farm and operated several other businesses, including growing and selling hay, raising and selling livestock, selling insurance, and appraising and settling estates. He became president of the Addison County Trust Company and the Columbus Smith Trust Company, and served on the board of directors for both the Brandon National Bank and the National Bank of Middlebury.

A Republican, Weeks served as a member of the Vermont House of Representatives from 1888 to 1890. He served as Assistant Judge of Addison County from 1892 to 1894. He moved to Middlebury, Vermont in 1896 and that year was also elected to the Vermont State Senate. In 1896 he was also elected trustee of the state industrial school (later named the Weeks School).[2] He returned to the Vermont House in 1912, and was Speaker from 1915 to 1917. Weeks became Director of State Institutions in 1917 and served until 1923.[3] Weeks was Vermont's Commissioner of Public Welfare from 1923 to 1926.

Weeks was elected Governor in 1926. In 1928 he became the first Vermont Governor elected to a second two-year term, arguing that he should be given an exemption from the Republican Party's Mountain Rule in order to oversee efforts to recover from the great flood of 1927. Weeks served from January 6, 1927, to January 8, 1931. In addition to flood recovery efforts, the Weeks administration was marked by an average of forty-nine miles of road annually being paved on a pay-as-you-go basis.[4]

In 1930, Weeks was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Vermont's 1st District. This district was scheduled to be eliminated due to redistricting, and incumbent Republican Elbert S. Brigham was not running for reelection. Weeks argued that serving one term and then retiring would be a fitting capstone to his career, and would ensure that two incumbent Republicans did not have to run against each other in a 1932 primary for Vermont's sole U.S. House seat. Weeks won the seat and served one term, 1931 to 1933.[5] After serving in Congress, Weeks returned to his Middlebury business interests.

Honors

Weeks was a longtime trustee of Middlebury College, from which he received the honorary degrees of M.A. in 1912 and LL.D. in 1927.[6] [7] In 1927, he received an honorary LL.D. from Norwich University.[8]

Death

Weeks died in Middlebury on September 10, 1949. At 96 years and 88 days, he remains the longest lived of all Vermont governors.

He is interred at West Salisbury Cemetery, Salisbury, Vermont.[9]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: John E. Weeks. 371. John E. Weeks vermont biography.. Encyclopedia, Vermont Biography. 16 November 2012. 1912.
  2. Web site: John E. Weeks. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. 16 November 2012.
  3. Web site: John E.Weeks. The Political Graveyard. 16 November 2012.
  4. Web site: John E. Weeks. National Governors Association. 16 November 2012.
  5. Web site: John E. Weeks. Govtrack US Congress. 16 November 2012.
  6. News: June 20, 1912 . Vail and Benton Receive Degrees . . Burlington, VT . 1 . Newspapers.com.
  7. News: June 21, 1927 . Middlebury Presents Diplomas to 101 and 6 Honorary Degrees . . Burlington, VT . 2 . Newspapers.com.
  8. News: June 18, 1927 . The Degrees: Honorary . Norwich University Record . Norwich, VT . 354 . Download.
  9. Web site: West Salisbury Cemetery, Salisbury. Vermont Old Cemetery Association. 16 November 2017.