Samuel Jordan Kirkwood (20 December 1813-1 September 1894) was Governor of Iowa (R) from 11 January 1860 to 14 January 1864 (succeeding Ralph P. Lowe and preceding William M. Stone) and from 13 January 1876 to 1 February 1877 (succeeding Cyrus C. Carpenter and preceding Joshua G. Newbold) and the US Senator from 13 January 1866 to 3 March 1867 (interrupting James Harlan's terms) and from 4 March 1877 to 7 March 1881 (succeeding George G. Wright and preceding James W. McDill). He also served as US Secretary of the Interior from 8 March 1881 to 17 April 1882, succeeding Carl Schurz and preceding Henry M. Teller.
Biography[]
Samuel Jordan Kirkwood was born in Harford County, Maryland in 1813, and he joined his father in moving to Ohio in 1835. He became a well-known, anti-slavery Republican, and he moved to Iowa in 1855. He served as a state senator from 1856 to 1859, and he served as Governor from 1860 to 1864, securing soldiers for the Union during the American Civil War. Kirkwood went on to serve as a US Senator from 1866 to 1867, serving the remainder of James Harlan's term. From 1876 to 1877, he returned to the governorship, but he resigned to take office as a US Senator once again in 1877, serving until 1881. From 1881 to 1882, he served as President James Garfield's Secretary of the Interior, and he died in Iowa City in 1894.