Edward J. Livernash | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 4th district | |
| In office March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1905 | |
| Preceded by | Julius Kahn |
| Succeeded by | Julius Kahn |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 14, 1866 Lower Calaveritas, California |
| Died | June 1, 1938 (aged 72) Agnew, California |
| Resting place | Cypress Lawn Memorial Park |
| Political party | Democratic Union Labor |
| Spouse |
Jessie Overton
(m. 1891; div. 1909)Zilla Dumouriez
(m. 1909) |
| Children | Alberta |
| Occupation | Journalist |
Edward James Livernash, subsequently Count Edward James de Nivernais (February 14, 1866 – June 1, 1938), was an American newspaperman and lawyer who served one term as a U.S. Representative representing the fourth congressional district of California from 1903 to 1905.[1][2]
Late in life Livernash adopted the French form of the family name, de Nivernais, by decree of court.[1]
Livernash was born in Lower Calaveritas, a California mining camp near San Andreas,[1] to an Irish mother and a father of French-Canadian descent,[3] and attended the common schools of California.[1] He became a printer at the age of fifteen, and a year later founded a country newspaper at Cloverdale, California.[1] He studied law in preparation for journalism, and in 1887 was admitted to the California bar.[1] In 1891, he joined the staff of the San Francisco Examiner and held various editorial posts there.[1]
In 1897 Livernash was sent by the Klondike miners as commissioner to the Dominion of Canada to urge a modification of onerous laws.[1]
in 1904, Livernash ran for Congress to represent California's 4th congressional district (San Francisco) in the Fifty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1905) on a Democratic and Union Labor ticket.[1][4] The dual nomination was unusual, and under then-prevailing California law, Livernash was required to choose which nomination would appear on the ballot; however, in October 1902 the California Supreme Court held that the provision limiting the ballot entry to a single nomination was not valid, and allowed both designations to appear.[5]
Livernash's opponents in the election were the incumbent, Republican Julius Kahn; Socialist Party candidate William Costly; and Prohibition Party candidate Joseph Rowell.[4] Livernash received 16,146 (49.17%) of the votes cast, compared to 16,005 (48.74%) cast for Kahn, with Costly and Rowell picking up the remaining 2.09%.[4] Kahn contested the election, charging that many of the votes in Livernash's plurality were illegally cast, but the election was upheld.[6]
Livernash served only one term, losing his reelection bid to Kahn in 1904.[7]
He became the managing editor of the Rocky Mountain News in 1906,[1] but resigned after only thirteen weeks after coming under criticism from Senator Thomas M. Patterson for an editorial published in December 1906.[8][9]
Livernash resided in France from 1909 to 1912, when he returned to the United States and settled near Belmont, California.[1] He engaged in study and literary pursuits.[1]
Livernash died in Agnew, California on June 1, 1938.[1] His remains were cremated at Cypress Lawn Cemetery in Colma, California.[1]
