Marcellus StearnsMarcellus Lovejoy Stearns (1839–1891) was an American politician. He served as the 11th Governor of Florida, from 1874 to 1877.
Born in Lovell, Maine on April 29, 1839, he attended Colby College and in 1861 left to join the Union Army. He lost an arm during the war, after which he was sent by the army to study law. He was sent to Quincy, Florida, where he remained after being discharged. He was a member of the Florida Constitutional Convention of 1868, and the Florida House of Representatives from 1868 through 1872, serving as speaker in 1869. He was elected the fifth Lieutenant Governor in 1872. He became governor on March 18, 1874 when Governor Ossian B. Hart died from pneumonia. Stearns attempted to force Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs to resign his post as Superintendent of Public Instruction, but was unsuccessful due to Gibbs' immense popularity. After leaving office on January 2, 1877, he was appointed U.S. Commissioner in Hot Springs, Arkansas, a post he held until 1880. He died in Palatine Bridge, New York, on December 8, 1891. He is buried in Center Lovell, Maine.
After he left office on 2 January 1877, there was no Republican Governor of Florida until 1967.
Source: Wikipedia
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