Samuel Douglas McEnery (May 28, 1837 – June 28, 1910) served as the 30th Governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana, with service from 1881 until 1888. He was subsequently a U.S. senator from 1897 until 1910. He was the brother of John McEnery, one of the candidates in the contested 1872 election for governor. Early life McEnery was born in Monroe in Ouachita Parish in North Louisiana. He attended Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, Virginia. In 1859, McEnery graduated from the State and National Law School in Poughkeepsie, New York. McEnery served as a lieutenant in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. Career In 1866, McEnery began practicing law in Monroe. He became active in the Democratic Party, and served as its chairman in Ouachita Parish. He was elected lieutenant governor in 1879, and became Governor of Louisiana in 1881 after the death of Louis A. Wiltz. McEnery was elected to a full term as governor in 1884, but failed to be re-elected in 1888. McEnery's administration was weak because of the power wielded by the State Treasurer Edward A. Burke and the corrupt Louisiana State Lottery Company. Despite Louisiana's Roman Catholic plurality (and majority in Acadiana and many of the southern parishes of the state), McEnery was the last Catholic to be elected governor prior to Edwin Edwards in 1972. After losing the 1888 election, McEnery was appointed to serve as an associate justice in the Louisiana Supreme Court. He was elected to serve in the United States Senate in 1896, serving there until his death in 1910. While in the Senate, McEnery served on the Committee of Corporations formed in the District of Columbia and the Committee of Transportation and Sale of Meat Products. Death McEnery died on June 28, 1910, in New Orleans and was interred there at Metairie Cemetery. See also List of United States Congress members who died in office (1900–49) Notes External links Retrieved on 2008-10-19 State of Louisiana - Biography Cemetery Memorial by La-Cemeteries Samuel D. McEnery, Late a Senator from Louisiana. US Government Printing Office. 1911. John and Samuel McEnery Papers at The Historic New Orleans Collection 1837 births 1910 deaths Confederate States Army officers Democratic Party United States senators from Louisiana Democratic Party governors of Louisiana Louisiana lawyers Justices of the Louisiana