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JOHN HAMMILL, Iowa's twenty-fourth governor, was born in Linden, Wisconsin on October 14, 1875. In 1897, he earned his law degree from the University of Iowa. He established his legal career, serving as the county attorney from 1902 to 1909. Hammill entered politics in 1908, serving as a member of the Iowa State Senate, a position he held for four years. He also served as Iowa's lieutenant governor from 1921 to 1925. Hammill won the 1924 Republican gubernatorial nomination and was sworn into the governor's office on January 15, 1925. He won reelection to a second term in 1926, and to a third term in 1928. During his tenure, an office of superintendent of child welfare was instituted; banking laws were managed by a state banking board; junior colleges were initiated into the public school system; the state's highway system was expanded; updated and put under the management of the state highway commission; the state's farming issues were addressed; and a constitutional amendment was sanctioned that allowed women to be elected to the General Assembly. Also during his term, Hammill ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1930. Hammill left the governor's office on January 15, 1931 and retired from public service. Governor John Hammill died on April 6, 1936, and was buried in Britt, Iowa.

Sources:

The Political Graveyard

Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 2, Westport, Conn.; Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.