Horace Austin

Horace Austin
Horace Austin
6th Governor of Minnesota
In office January 9, 1870 – January 7, 1874
Lieutenant	William H. Yale
Preceded by	William Rainey Marshall
Succeeded by	Cushman Davis
Personal details
Born	October 15, 1831 Canterbury, Connecticut, U.S.
Died	November 2, 1905 (aged 74) Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Mary Lena Morill
Profession	lawyer, judge

Horace Austin (October 15, 1831 – November 2, 1905) was an American politician. He served as the sixth Governor of Minnesota from January 9, 1870 to January 7, 1874. He was a Republican.

A reputation for clearheaded objectivity and disdain for contentious party politics enhanced the appeal of Judge Horace Austin as a gubernatorial candidate in 1869. Minnesota's sixth governor was determined to bring legislative power to bear against the railroad barons. His advocacy of strictly regulated passenger and freight rates and his opposition to the wholesale allocation of state lands to railroad development earned him a second term. But he was unable to resolve completely the problems inherent in controlling a booming transportation industry and curbing the excesses of its owners.

Horace Austin and Mary Lena Morill on their wedding day, 1859.

Born in 1831 in Canterbury, Connecticut, the son of a prosperous Connecticut farmer and graduate of a private academy, Austin taught school briefly before studying law. He was 25 when he moved to Minnesota and began practicing law in St. Peter. Six years later he joined the local Frontier Guards at the outbreak of the Dakota War of 1862. In 1869, while judge of the Sixth Judicial District, Austin impressed state Republican leaders with his fair-mindedness and won the gubernatorial nomination.

Remaining in the public sphere after leaving the governor's office, Austin served as third auditor of the U.S. Treasury in Washington, as register of the U.S. Land Office in Fargo, North Dakota, and finally as a railroad commissioner. He devoted his last 16 years to travel and relaxation at his Lake Minnetonka home. He died in 1905 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

References

• Biographical information and his gubernatorial records are available for research use at the Minnesota Historical Society.
• Horace Austin at Find-A-Grave