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BERYL FRANKLIN CARROLL, Iowa's twentieth governor, was born in Davis County, Iowa on March 15, 1860. In 1884, he graduated from the State Normal School in Kirksville, Missouri. After college, Carroll held several jobs including that of a livestock dealer, a teacher, and an editor and publisher of the Davis County Republican. He entered politics in 1895, serving as a member of the Iowa State Senate, a position he resigned from in 1898 in order to serve as postmaster of Bloomfield. He also served as Iowa's auditor from 1903 to 1909. Carroll won the 1908 Republican gubernatorial nomination and was sworn into office on January 14, 1909. He was reelected to a second term in 1910. During his tenure, he endorsed legislation establishing a state board of education; and he advocated for mining law amendments, as well as for initiating a pension plan for firemen and policemen. After Carroll left office on January 16, 1913, he retired from public service. He stayed active working in the life insurance business in Des Moines. Governor Beryl F. Carroll died on December 16, 1939, and was buried at the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Bloomfield, 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.