William Sherman Jennings

• American

William Sherman Jennings proved to be one of the most influential residents in Brooksville. Born in Marion County, Illinois, on March 24, 1863, Jennings moved to Brooksville in early 1886, at which time he built his Brooksville residence. Prior to that time, Jennings received his law degree from the Union Law School of Chicago after attending the University of Southern Illinois in Carbondale. Shortly after Jennings arrived in Brooksville he was accepted to the Florida Bar and was soon appointed as a circuit court commissioner of Sixth Judicial Circuit. In 1888, he was appointed as the Judge of the Hernando County Court, and was later elected to the position. From 1890- 1900 he was a member of the Brooksville City Commission. In 1892 and 1894, he was elected as a state representative for the county in the state House of Representatives. In 1895, after diligent work as a lawmaker, Jennings was elected as the Speaker of the House. In 1896, Jennings was selected as the Democratic Presidential Elector and in 1898, was chosen as the State Democratic Chairman. As a state legislator, he adopted the Progressive platform, which took the pro-labor and anti-corporate stance. In 1899, he began his campaign for nomination as the Democratic gubernatorial nominee. His cause was helped by the arrival of his famous cousin, William Jennings Bryan, to the home Jennings shared with his wife May Mann Jennings, who was the daughter of Senator Mann of Hernando County and a prominent advocate of women's rights. Bryan, who attended a party on Jennings' behalf at the Jennings House, garnered further support for his cousin's cause. In June 1900, Jennings was chosen as the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Jacksonville. During his campaign for governor, Jennings ran on anti-trust legislation and ran on the general Democratic platform that endorsed tariff reductions, income tax, corporate restrictions and regulation of railroads. Jennings won the election by a wide margin over his challengers, Republican Matthew B MacFarlane and Populist A M Morton.

As governor, Jennings lowered taxes while raising revenue and reduced the bond debt by over $1 million. Jennings furthered his place in Florida history by halting the acquisition of land by large railroad conglomerates in Florida who held the rights to swampland in southwest Florida, which later became part of the Everglades National Park. Jennings voided those claims, giving 3, 863,080 acres of swampland back to Florida. Jennings' plan was to drain the swampland in a massive reclamation campaign for future development. The reclamation of the Everglades still has far reaching impacts on the state today.

The expansion of the state capitol also took place during Jennings' administration. The offices at the Old State Capitol are currently interpreted to the time period of Governor Jennings.

After his term in office ended in 1904, Governor Jennings and May Mann moved to Jacksonville, where he still maintained his influence in Florida politics. On February 27, 1920, after having suffered a severe heart attack the previous year, Governor Jennings passed away at the age of 56. - NRHP