#60 Michael DiSalle

Michael DiSalle

Born: January 6, 1908

Died September 14, 1981

Political Party: Democrat

Term of Office: January 12, 1959- January 14, 1963

Buried: Calvary Cemetery Toledo, Ohio

No. 32 of 58

   Michael DiSalle was born in New York City. His family moved to Toledo, Ohio when he was 3 years old. He attended Georgetown University and later got his law degree.

   In 1937 he was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives. Over the coming years he would run for both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, losing every time. In 1950 President Harry S. Truman appointed him to be director of the Office of Price Stabilization during the Korean War. He spent 12 years working in Toledo area politics, serving one term as Mayor of Toledo along the way.  In 1956, DiSalle was the Democratic Nominee for Governor of Ohio but lost to C. William O'Neill. In 1958 he ran for Governor again and this time he won. DiSalle was the first Governor to serve a 4 year term without having to win reelection. Before this time Ohio elected a new Governor every 2 years.

  In 1960, DiSalle ran as a "favorite son" candidate in Ohio for the Democratic Presidential nomination. This method was used so that a candidate with no chance can have a say in the party platform by shifting their delegates to a candidate who does have a shot. DiSalle gave his support to John F. Kennedy. He would remain a loyal ally of the Kennedy's until his death. In 1968 he lead a draft movement to get Ted Kennedy to run for President but withdrew upon Kennedy's request. Then in 1980 he was an honorary chairman of Ted Kennedy's Presidential campaign. 

   As Governor, DiSalle signed the bill making Ohio's official motto"With God, all things are possible". He was so opposed to the death penalty that he made a point to hire convicted murders to serve on his household staff, to demonstrate his faith in rehabilitation. In spite of this, he did allow 6 executions to happen during his term as Governor. He was a very hard working Governor, committing himself to 16 hour work days.

   After loosing reelection he returned home to continue his law practice. He died in 1981.


    I visited the gravesite of Governor DiSalle in October of 2016. My son and I went to Toledo to see former President Clinton at a rally for his wife. After which we went and found Governor DiSalle's gravesite pretty easy. It was right next to the gate as we pulled into the cemetery.

      

President Kennedy applauding Governor DiSalle at his birthday party on the Ohio State fairgrounds on January 6, 1962

Governor DiSalle and President Kennedy at the Army Navy football game in 1962

DiSalle family marker

My son Nicky

Governor DiSalle and I

#40 Asa S. Bushnell

Asa S. Bushnell

Born: September 16, 1834

Died: January 15, 1904

Political Party: Republican

Term of Office: January 13, 1896 - January 8, 1900

Buried: Ferncliff Cemetery Springfield, Ohio

No. 31 of 58

    Asa Smith Bushnell was born in Rome, New York in 1834. His family moved to Ohio when he was 11, then he moved to Springfield when he was 17. In Springfield, Bushnell married and became a partner in his father in laws drug store. He joined the war effort in 1864 by being the Captain of a "hundred day infantry" in the Shenandoah Valley. After the war he returned home to become a popular and successful businessman. He had a lot of jobs serving as a President of the First National Bank to President of the Springfield Gas Company. 

    He got involved in Republican politics and helped Joseph Foraker get elected Governor in 1885. His efforts paid off when Foraker helped get him elected to the Governorship in 1895 after William McKinley left to pursue the Presidency.

     Bushnell served 2- 2 year terms as Governor. It was a great time of transition. It was the dawn of Progressivism. Legislation was passed to improve women's working conditions and limit child labor. In 1898 the Spanish American War broke out and Bushnell was proud to of gotten the first volunteers organized to fight in that war. 

  After leaving the Governorship Bushnell resumed his business affairs. In January 1904 he went to Columbus to attend the Inauguration of Governor Myron T. Herrick. Afterwords he struck sick on the way to the train station and died in Columbus 4 days later. 

   Bushnell was the 2nd of 2 Governor gravesites that I visited on the Saturday before Labor Day 2016. I was taking the kids down to the Air Force Museum in Dayton and decided to pick up a couple of Governor's along the way. The first Governor was Joseph Vance in Urbana. That was the hardest Governor gravesite to find so far. It took about an hour. As you can see. Governor Bushnell's tomb was much easier to find.

 My boys and I at the Bushnell Tomb

#13 Joseph Vance

Joseph Vance

Born: March 21, 1786

Died: August 24, 1852

Political Party: Whig

Term of Office: December 12, 1836 - December 13, 1838

Buried: Oak Dale Cemetery Urbana, Ohio

No. 30 of 58

   On previous posts the total number of Ohio Governor gravesites that we were counting up to was 56. But since 2 more have passed away our number that we are aiming for is now 58. 

   Joseph Vance was born in Pennsylvania. His family moved to Kentucky for a few years before finally settling in Ohio in 1805. He was a salt peddler and farmer. During the War of 1812 he rose to the rank of Major General. His military career lead to his entering politics. He served a few terms in the Ohio House of Representatives before being elected in 1820 to the U.S. House of Representatives. After 7 terms in the House he lost reelection to an 8th term. He came back 2 years later and became the first Whig to become Governor of Ohio, where he served one, uneventful 2 year term before loosing reelection in 1838. 

     As Governor, Vance tried to abolish the death penalty, supported canal construction and supported state funding of schools. After being Governor he returned to politics by serving a term in the Ohio State Senate and 2 more terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. He also served as a delegate to the 1848 Whig National Convention and was elected to the Ohio Constitutional Convention in 1850. He passed away at his Urbana, Ohio home in 1852. 

   When I visited Oak Dale Cemetery in Urbana I had 2 stops in mind. Governor Joseph Vance's grave and also the grave of frontiersman Simon Kenton. When I got there signs lead me to Kenton's grave very easily. But it actually took me about an hour of looking before I found Governor Vance. I had some pictures to go off of, but there were literally hundreds of tombstone that looked like the one marking Governor Vance's final resting place.

 Governor Vance and I