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Photo – Map of Wyoming Territory – Courtesy Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office
Wyoming’s first federal election was held following statehood. The United States admitted Wyoming into the Union as the 44th state on July 10, 1890. Prior to statehood, the Wyoming Legislature appointed senators, rather than the electorate casting their ballots. The first two senators were no strangers to Wyoming nor Cheyenne. Both were privy to politics and the efforts of the territory to achieve statehood. The two elected were Joseph M. Carey and Francis E. Warren.
Carey’s parents were well established farmers and able to provide him with an excellent education. After two years of college, Carey went to the University of Pennsylvania where he obtained a law degree in 1867.
In 1869, Carey became a US Attorney for the territory of Wyoming. He was appointed by President Ulysses Grant. He also served on the Territorial Supreme Court in 1871 and continued through 1876. Carey served one term in the US Senate.
In 1895, Carey ran for reelection, but the state legislature unanimously voted in favor of Francis E Warren. This was due to Carey’s opposition to the free silver movement.
In 1910, he left the Republican Party and was elected as Governor of Wyoming on the Democratic nomination.
He retired from politics when he completed his Governorship in 1914. He is, to date, the only Mayor of Cheyenne to be elected as Governor. Throughout his life and despite his many positions in civic life, Carey kept the title of Judge.
An 1917, Carey made known his support of prohibition of alcohol in the United States.
Photo – Joseph Carey as a young man – Courtesy WY State Archives
Frances Emroy Warren was born in Hinsdale, Massachusetts on June 20, 1844. He attended common schools in the area and Hinsdale Academy.
During the Civil War, Warren enlisted and fought with the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, eventually advancing to non-commissioned officer and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
A farmer and stockman in Massachusetts, Warren moved to Wyoming in 1968 to clerk for Amasa Converse in his mercantile store. He soon became involved in a variety of businesses from real estate to livestock. Warren promoted the first lighting system in Cheyenne, where he also served on the city council and on the Territorial Assembly, becoming its president.
Warren continued his interest in politics as chairman of the Republican Territorial Central Committee, Territorial Treasurer, and Mayor of Cheyenne.
During Warren’s second term as Territorial Governor, Wyoming became a state. Warren traveled to Washington DC to campaign for statehood. He was then elected Wyoming’s first State Governor on September 11, 1890. He served for only two months before he was elected as the second United States Senator for Wyoming, when he resigned as Governor. He served in congress until his death on November 24, 1929, 39 years to the day after he resigned as Governor.
Photo- Frances E Warren as a young man – Courtesy WY State Archives
On this date, November 14, 1890, Carey and Warren were elected as Wyoming’s first Senators.
