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William C. Hendricks

Democratic

Picture of William C. Hendricks
CA Blue Book (2000)
Date Party Office Votes Result
09-02-1873 Democratic SD-24 0 Win
09-07-1875 Democratic SD-26 0 Win
11-02-1886 Democratic Secretary of State 93481 Win
11-04-1890 Democratic Secretary of State 114216 Loss
 

Candidate Biography:

William Chalmers John Hendricks, Sr.
Born: October 22, 1825 in Ligonier, Pennsylvania
Married: Susan Elizabeth Glass
Children: William C. J. Jr., Louis, Elizabeth, Springer, Max, Scott and Samuel
Family: Nephew of Indiana Governor William Hendricks, cousin of Vice President Thomas Andrews Hendricks (1885).
Family: Two of Secretary of State Hendicks' cousins (Jane and Anna) married State Controller Winslow S. Pierce.
Died: January 24, 1892 in Sacramento, CA

1883-1887: State Prison Director

  • LEGISLATIVE HISTORIAN: As Secretary of State, it was Hendricks who turned the State Roster (published only once before, in 1886) into the California Blue Book, which has been the most significant set of reference books on California government for the last 120 years. 
  • Be Fruitful and Multiply: Hendricks had seven children.
  • Super-Confusing Similarities: It was a little challenging to track down the relationship between California Secretary of State Hendricks and Indiana Governor William Hendricks. Both were born in Pennsylvania's Ligonier Valley (the Governor in 1782 and the Secretary of State in 1825). Both had fathers named Abraham Hendricks, and both had brothers named Thomas, John, and Abraham and the Secretary of State had a sister named Mary Ann, while the Governor had sisters named Mary and Ann. It took a while to figure out that the Governor's brother Abraham was also the Secretary of State's father, but once we figured that out, it was done.

Source: History of Political Conventions in California, 1849-1892 by Winfield J. Davis (1893)
Source: Directory of the California Legislature. Twenty-First Session, 1875-6 by William Halley (1876)