Garvin Dugas Shands (December 5, 1844 - July 1, 1917) was an American lawyer, professor, and Democratic politician. He was the Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi from 1882 to 1890 and a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1876 to 1880.

G. D. Shands
1897
11th Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi
In office
January 1882 – January 1890
Preceded byWilliam Henry Sims
Succeeded byM. M. Evans
Member of the Mississippi House of Representatives
from the Tate County district
In office
January 1876 – January 1880
Serving with
William H. Bizzell (1878-1880)
Thomas B. Garrett (1876-1878)
Preceded byT. S. Tate
Thomas B. Garrett
Succeeded byH. F. Bowman
B. R. Chambliss
Personal details
Born(1844-12-05)December 5, 1844
Spartanburg District, South Carolina, U.S.
DiedJuly 1, 1917(1917-07-01) (aged 72)
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseMary Roseborough (m. 1870-1917, his death)
Children5

Early life

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Garvin Dugas Shands was born on December 5, 1844, in Burnt Factory, Spartanburg District, South Carolina, and was raised in the family home there.[1][2][3] He was the oldest son of South Carolina natives Dr. Anthony Capel Shands (1815 or 1816 - 1876) and Frances Jane (Ferguson) Shands, his wife.[1][3][4] Shands began attending Wofford College in 1859.[1] When the American Civil War began in 1861, Shands enlisted at the age of 17 in Manigault's Battalion in the Confederate Army.[2][3] At the end of the year, he was transferred to the 6th South Carolina Cavalry Regiment.[3] His unit helped guard the Port of Charleston until May 1864, when they were transferred to the command of General Wade Hampton.[3] Shands was among Hampton's and Joseph E. Johnston's troops during the surrender in April 1865 in Bennett Place in Durham, North Carolina.[3] He then returned to Wofford College in the same year, graduating with a B. A. in 1866.[1][2] In 1867, Shands moved to Panola County, Mississippi, where he was a teacher and also read law, and lived there for two years before moving to Tate County, Mississippi, in 1869.[3] He then attended the University of Kentucky, graduating in January 1870[5] with a Bachelor of Laws degree.[2]

Career

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After graduating, Shands opened a law office in Senatobia, Mississippi, and his law practice grew.[2][3] He was elected to represent Tate County as a Democrat in the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1875 and reelected in 1877, serving from 1876 to 1880.[6][5] In 1881, Shands was elected to the office of Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi and served from 1882 to 1886.[5] In 1885, he was re-elected and served a second term from 1886 to 1890.[5] From 1890 to 1894, Shands was a trustee of both Vanderbilt University and Millsaps College.[1] In 1894, Shands accepted the position of dean of the University of Mississippi School of Law and also served there as a law professor.[2][3] He received an honorary L. L. D. from Wofford in 1897.[2][1] In October 1906, Shands accepted a position as a professor of common law at Tulane University.[2][7] Shands retired in 1909, and was granted a retirement allowance by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.[1][2]

Later life

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Shands was a member of the Methodist Church and served as a delegate to its national conventions in 1882, 1886, 1890, 1894, and 1906.[4][7] He married Mary Endosia Roseborough on December 14, 1870.[3][1] They had five children together: Hubert Anthony Shands (1872-1955; an English professor and author[8]), Mabel I., Audley W., Harley R., and Cecil.[1] Shands died in New Orleans, Louisiana, on July 1, 1917.[2] His widow Mary died on October 7, 1934.[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Who's who in American Methodism. E. B. Treat. 1916. p. 197.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Teaching, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of (1918). Annual Report of the President and Treasurer. p. 136.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rowland, Dunbar (1907). Encyclopedia of Mississippi History: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons. S. A. Brant. p. 647.
  4. ^ a b Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi: Embracing an Authentic and Comprehensive Account of the Chief Events in the History of the State and a Record of the Lives of Many of the Most Worthy and Illustrious Families and Individuals. Goodspeed. 1891. pp. 749–750.
  5. ^ a b c d Brooks, Ulysses Robert (1909). Butler and His Cavalry in the War of Secession, 1861-1865. State Company. p. 286. ISBN 978-0-7222-8228-1.
  6. ^ Lowry, Robert; McCardle, William H. (1891). A History of Mississippi: From the Discovery of the Great River by Hernando DeSoto, Including the Earliest Settlement Made by the French Under Iberville, to the Death of Jefferson Davis. R.H. Henry & Company. p. 583. ISBN 978-0-7884-4821-8.
  7. ^ a b Leonard, John William; Marquis, Albert Nelson (1908). Who's who in America. A.N. Marquis. p. 1702.
  8. ^ Lives of Mississippi Authors, 1817-1967. Univ. Press of Mississippi. 1981. p. 406. ISBN 978-1-61703-418-3.
  9. ^ "Obituary for G. D. Shands". The Monroe News-Star. 1934-10-08. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-03-01.