Reuben May

Reuben May (June 23, 1815 – September 26, 1902) was an American farmer and populist politician. He was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the western half of Vernon County during the 1870 and 1872 sessions. He was also twice a candidate for governor of Wisconsin, running on the Greenback ticket in 1879 and the Union Labor ticket in 1890. Earlier in life, he served as a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Early life

Reuben May was born in Robinson Creek, in Pike County, Kentucky, the son of a wealthy and well-established family. He grew up on his father's estate, and served as an officer in the Kentucky Militia, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel during the Mexican–American War.

He became involved in politics with the Democratic Party and was appointed postmaster at Pikeville, Kentucky, and, after moving to Clay County, Kentucky, in 1849, he was appointed postmaster at Mount Welcome. He was a candidate for the Kentucky Senate in 1853, but was defeated. When they had enough armed men, their unit mustered into federal service as the 8th Kentucky Infantry Regiment in the Fall of 1861. Barnes and May were, respectively, appointed colonel and lieutenant colonel.

Colonel Barnes left the regiment on a leave of absence during December 1862, and May commanded the regiment through the Battle of Stones River. The regiment's officer corps was also severely diminished by disease that winter.

After the battle, the regiment was camped at Murfreesboro for the next several months and May recuperated from his injuries at Nashville until April. During that time, May was promoted to colonel and placed in command of the 7th Kentucky Infantry Regiment. He was not renominated by the party in 1870, but ran unsuccessfully as an independent candidate. In 1871, he was again nominated by the Republicans and won another term in the Assembly. His district in these years was Vernon County's 1st Assembly district, which then comprised roughly the west half of the county.

In the late 1870s, he became one of the most active proponents of the Greenback Party movement in Wisconsin. He was the Greenback nominee for governor of Wisconsin in the 1879 Wisconsin gubernatorial election. He ran a vigorous campaign, but received less than 7% of the statewide vote.

He was induced to make one final run for office. He was nominated by the Union Labor Party for governor of Wisconsin in the 1890 election. The chief issue in the election was the Bennett Education Law, which was designed to set compulsory education standards, but had inflamed the immigrant population with English language requirements. The Labor Party was generally supportive of the law, but had other fundamental differences with the Republicans. May came in a distant fourth in the general election, receiving less than 2% of the vote.

May died at his estate in Vernon County, on September 26, 1902, after an illness of about two months.

Personal life and family

May was one of twelve children born to Thomas Phillips May and his wife Dorcas ( Patton). Most of May's family supported the Confederacy in the Civil War. His first cousin, Andrew Jackson May, served as a colonel in the Confederate Army.

Reuben May married Emmeriah V. A. Honaker in 1835. They had at least thirteen children together, though one died in infancy and two others died young. He was married to Emmeriah for 46 years before her death in 1881.

Wisconsin Senate (1875)

Wisconsin Governor (1879, 1890)