Hazen Stuart Pingree was born on August 30, 1840, and died on June 18, 1901. He was an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd mayor of Detroit from 1889 to 1897 and the 24th governor of Michigan from 1897 to 1901. Pingree was born in New England but moved to Michigan. He was a Republican who worked as a businessman before becoming a politician.

Pingree was elected mayor in 1889 after an interesting campaign. He showed his willingness to connect with different groups by visiting saloons. He gained support from many people, including those of German and Canadian backgrounds. He was reelected mayor in 1891, 1893, and 1895. He warned about the dangers of companies that controlled too much power. He led efforts to reduce prices charged by companies that operated streetcars, gas, electric, and telephone services. These actions made him popular. He also helped create a public-owned electric light plant, which made him a leader in supporting government control of utilities and transportation systems.

During the financial crisis of 1893, Pingree helped people by allowing empty land to be used for farming. This plan, called "Pingree's Potato Patch Plan," was partly funded by Pingree selling his prized horse to buy tools and seeds. As a Republican, Pingree supported policies that appealed to some members of the Populist Party and labor unions. In 1896, he backed the gold standard and worked to help Republican candidate William McKinley win Michigan’s vote in the presidential election against Democrat William Jennings Bryan.

Pingree was also elected governor of Michigan. During his time as governor, he helped pass the nation’s first major law to reassess the value of railroad and corporate property. This law aimed to create fair taxes and supported efforts to regulate railroads and break up powerful business trusts. In 1985, a study of scholars ranked Pingree as the third-best mayor in American history.

Early life in Maine and Massachusetts

Pingree was born in Denmark, Maine, to Jasper Pingree and Adeline (Bryant) Pingree. He attended public schools in Maine. At the age of fourteen, he moved to Saco, Maine, where he worked in a cotton factory. Two years later, he moved to Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and worked for many years as a cutter in a shoe factory.

Civil War

In 1862, Pingree joined the Union Army to fight in the Civil War with the 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery Regiment (Company F). He fought on the front lines during General Pope’s Northern Virginia Campaign and the Second Battle of Bull Run. His regiment was later ordered to defend Washington, D.C., until May 15, 1864, and then returned to the front. He served with the Second Brigade of Tyler’s Division, Second Corps, which took part in battles at Fredericksburg Road (May 18), Harris Farm (May 19), and Spotsylvania Court House (May 19–21).

His regiment was later assigned to the Second Corps, Third Division, in the Army of the Potomac and fought at North Anna (May 24–25), where Pingree and others were captured by a group from John S. Mosby’s command. Pingree was held in Confederate prisons at Gordonsville and Lynchburg, Virginia, and at Salisbury, North Carolina. He was then sent to Andersonville prison. While General Sherman marched toward the sea, Pingree was moved to Millen, Georgia, where he escaped by pretending to be someone else during a roll call for a prisoner exchange in November 1864. He rejoined his regiment, fought in more battles, and was present at Appomattox Court House when Robert E. Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865. A few months later, on August 15, his regiment was officially ended.

Business in Michigan

Pingree worked as a shoemaker and, after the war, moved to Detroit. He worked briefly for Henry Porter Baldwin’s shoe company. In 1866, Pingree and his accountant, Charles H. Smith, bought Baldwin’s shoe-making machines and started the Pingree and Smith company. In 1883, Smith left the business, and J. B. Howarth and Pingree’s son, Joe, became partners. By 1886, the company was worth $1 million, had 700 workers, and produced half a million shoes and boots each year. It was the second largest shoe manufacturer in the United States. In March 1887, a fire destroyed the whole factory, but the company recovered.

In 1872, Pingree married Frances A. Gilbert of Mount Clemens, Michigan. They had three children: Joe, Hazel, and Gertrude, who passed away in 1894 at age 19 due to tuberculosis.

Mayor of Detroit

Pingree was not involved in politics before becoming mayor of Detroit in 1889. As a citizen reformer, he was elected on a plan to stop corruption in city paving, sewer, and school board contracts. He later worked to challenge privately owned utility companies, such as those that provided electricity and gas, by creating city-owned competitors. His biggest challenge came when he tried to lower streetcar fares to three cents, which led to a conflict with Tom L. Johnson, president of the Detroit City Railway. Pingree tried to start a city-owned railway company but was prevented from doing so by the Michigan Constitution. When the railway company asked for a thirty-year contract with the city, Pingree opposed it, which caused James McMillan, a major shareholder, to strongly disagree.

During the serious economic downturn in 1893, Pingree expanded public welfare programs, created jobs for the unemployed, and built new schools, parks, and public baths. He became well-known nationally for his "potato patch plan," which gave poor people access to 430 acres of city land to grow food. He also supported the single tax idea proposed by economist Henry George.

In a 1993 survey of historians, political scientists, and urban experts led by Melvin G. Holli of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Pingree was ranked as the fourth-best mayor of a major American city between 1820 and 1993.

Governor of Michigan

In 1896, Pingree was chosen as the Republican candidate for Governor of Michigan. He promoted a plan that included many different groups, inviting Germans and other ethnic communities to join a large group that would work together to create prosperity for all people. He believed this was better than the false prosperity promised by supporters of silver as currency. He won the governor’s race and also helped Republican presidential candidate William McKinley win the state.

After starting his term as governor on January 1, 1897, Pingree planned to also serve as mayor of Detroit until the November elections in 1897. However, some people said he could not hold both jobs at the same time. The Michigan Supreme Court agreed, and Pingree left his position as mayor.

During his four years as governor, Pingree supported controlling railroad prices, fair taxes, and having cities own public services like electricity and water. He also backed letting people vote directly for U.S. senators, an eight-hour workday, an income tax, elections where people choose candidates, the use of referendums, ending child labor, and requiring companies to settle labor disputes through fair negotiations. Many of these ideas faced opposition from Democrats and Republicans who supported businesses. Pingree shared the Progressive concern about powerful companies, saying, "I do not hate corporations or rich people, but I want them to stay in their proper areas. It is not safe to let Wall Street control the government."

Death

In 1900, Pingree did not run again for a political position. In 1901, Pingree traveled to London, England, after returning from a trip to Africa with his son. He became very sick with peritonitis and could not go back to the United States. King Edward VII, who looked similar to Pingree, sent his doctors to London's Grand Hotel to help Pingree recover.

Pingree was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan, and later moved to Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit. A statue of Pingree stands in Grand Circus Park in Detroit, honoring him as "The Idol of the People." The statue was created by Austrian sculptor Rudolph Schwarz.

There is also a bronze bust of Pingree on the 13th floor of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Building in Detroit.