Preceded by William V. Allen Name Charles Dietrich Lieutenant Ezra P. Savage Party Republican Party | Preceded by William A. Poynter Political party Republican Succeeded by Elmer Burkett | |
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Born November 26, 1853
Aurora, Illinois ( 1853-11-26 ) Role Former Governor of Nebraska Died April 10, 1924, Hastings, Nebraska, United States Spouse Margaretta Shaw (m. 1909), Elizabeth Slaker | ||
Previous office Senator (NE) 1901–1905 | ||
Charles Henry Dietrich (November 26, 1853 – April 10, 1924) was the 11th |Governor of Nebraska.
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He was born in Aurora, Illinois, and was of German ancestry. His education was attained in the public schools of his native state and he quit at the age of twelve.
Dietrich was married twice. His first wife, Elizabeth Slaker, died in 1887. After Elizabeth's death, he married Margretta Stewart Shaw in 1909.
Career
Dietrich was employed as a clerk in a hardware store in St. Joseph, Missouri. He moved to Chicago, Illinois and engaged in the hardware business. He moved to Deadwood, Dakota Territory (now South Dakota), in 1875 and engaged in mercantile pursuits, delivering goods on pack animals through the Black Hills. He then located and owned the ‘Aurora’ mine.
Dietrich settled in Hastings, Nebraska, in 1878 and engaged in mercantile pursuits and in banking. Dietrich founded the German National Bank at Hastings and served aw the president of the bank from 1887 to 1905. He became the president of the Hastings Board of Trade.
Elected in 1900, Dietrich served as Governor of Nebraska from January 3, 1901 to May 1, 1901, when he resigned his governorship to fill a vacancy in the US Senate caused by the death of Monroe L. Hayward.
Bribery charge
Before he took office Dietrich was charged with bribery for accepting money to appoint Jacob Fisher to be a US Postmaster. He was charged with conspiracy to receive a bribe, accepting a bribe and profiting by the leaning of a building to the government. Before the trial began, the judge held that Dietrich could not be prosecuted because the alleged bribery occurred after he was elected, but before Dietrich was sworn in as a US Senator. All the charges were then dropped.(1901)
His tenure in the Senate lasted from May 1, 1901, to March 4, 1905, and he served as a pro-imperialist on the Lodge Committee investigating war crimes during the Philippine-American War. He did not run for reelection in 1904.
Death
Dietrich retired in 1905 and died in Hastings, Nebraska.