elections. Mount objected strongly to the War Department demand and enlisted the support of Indiana's senator, Charles W. Fairbanks. Mount and Fairbanks both spoke with President McKinley to demand that he allow the blacks companies to be commanded by black officers. McKinley complied, making the first steps towards the racial equality and integration of the United States Army. Mount received national attention in the last year of his term when he refused to extradite William S. Taylor to Kentucky. Taylor was a Republican candidate for Governor of Kentucky in the 1899 election, and was believed to have been involved in the murder of his Democratic opponent after making accusations of vote fraud. Mount ordered state police to protect Taylor who remained in Indiana for the rest of his life. Mount left office on January 14, 1901, and was relieved and happy to return to his farm. In his farewell speech he called it the happiest day of his life. Two days later, January 16, as he was preparing to leave the capitol and return home, he died of a heart attack in his Indianapolis apartment. His body lay in state for three days before he was returned to be buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Electoral history See also List of governors of Indiana Indiana White Caps Notes Bibliography External links Indiana Historical Bureau: Biography and portrait [Obituary] National Governors Association James Mount at FindAGrave 1843 births 1901 deaths American Presbyterians Republican Party governors of Indiana Republican Party Indiana state senators People of Indiana in the American Civil War People from Indiana in the Spanish–American War 19th-century American politicians 20th-century American politicians