# Winfield Gaylord

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{{short description|American socialist politician (1870-1943)}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2026}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name          = Winfield Gaylord
| image         = Winfield Gaylord 1912 Edit.jpg
| caption       = Gaylord {{circa}} 1912
| state         = Wisconsin
| state_senate  = Wisconsin
| district      = [6th](/source/Wisconsin's_6th_State_Senate_district)
| term_start    = January 4, 1909
| term_end      = January 6, 1913
| predecessor   = [Jacob Rummel](/source/Jacob_Rummel)
| successor     = [George Weissleder](/source/George_Weissleder)
| party         = [Social Democratic](/source/Social_Democratic_Party_of_America)
| birth_name    = Winfield Romeo Gaylord
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1870|06|14}}
| birth_place   = [Verona, Mississippi](/source/Verona%2C_Mississippi), U.S.
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1943|02|23|1870|06|14}}
| death_place   = [Palmetto, Florida](/source/Palmetto%2C_Florida), U.S.
| resting_place = Palmetto Cemetery, {{nowrap|Palmetto, Florida}}
| spouse        = Olive Semarimus Brown
| children      = 1
| education     = [Chicago Theological Seminary](/source/Chicago_Theological_Seminary)
| occupation    = Minister, lecturer, journalist
}}

'''Winfield Romeo Gaylord''' (June 14, 1870{{spaced ndash}}February 23, 1943) was an American journalist, [minister](/source/Minister_(Christianity)), and [socialist](/source/socialist) lecturer.  He represented the northwest side of the city of [Milwaukee](/source/Milwaukee) in the [Wisconsin State Senate](/source/Wisconsin_State_Senate) during the [1909](/source/49th_Wisconsin_Legislature) and [1911](/source/50th_Wisconsin_Legislature) sessions.  He also ran for [U.S. House of Representatives](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives) five times on the Socialist or Social Democratic ticket, and was a candidate for Governor of Wisconsin in [1906](/source/1906_Wisconsin_gubernatorial_election).<ref>[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/gayle-geerlings.html#RN10WEZLR Profile], PoliticalGraveyard.com; accessed June 21, 2017.</ref>

==Biography==
===Background===
Gaylord was born June 14, 1870, in [Verona, Mississippi](/source/Verona%2C_Mississippi), to Benjamin Franklin Gaylord (1835-1872) and Elsie Manelle Beebe Monismith (1842-1925).  He attended [public school](/source/State_school) in [Cleveland, Ohio](/source/Cleveland%2C_Ohio); studied at [Ohio Wesleyan University](/source/Ohio_Wesleyan_University), [Hamline University](/source/Hamline_University), [Northwestern University](/source/Northwestern_University), and [Chicago Theological Seminary](/source/Chicago_Theological_Seminary), graduating from the latter school in 1908.  He served as a [pastor](/source/pastor) in various [Methodist](/source/Methodism) and [Congregational](/source/Congregational_church) churches in [Minnesota](/source/Minnesota), [Illinois](/source/Illinois), and [Wisconsin](/source/Wisconsin), from 1889 to 1902. From 1902 he worked as a [lecturer](/source/lecturer) on popular and economic subjects.<ref>'Wisconsin Blue Book 1909,' Biographical Sketch of Winfield R. Gaylord, pg. 1095</ref>

===Political activity===
[[File:Winfield Gaylord 1904.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Gaylord at the first [Socialist Party of America](/source/Socialist_Party_of_America) convention in [Chicago](/source/Chicago), 1904]]
He served as a national lecturer for the Socialist Party and was a member of the Wisconsin state executive board of the [Social Democratic Party](/source/Social_Democratic_Party_of_America). In 1904, he was nominated for [U.S. House of Representatives](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives) from [Wisconsin's 4th congressional district](/source/Wisconsin's_4th_congressional_district), losing to [Republican](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States)) incumbent [Theobald Otjen](/source/Theobald_Otjen).<ref>[http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1905 Erickson, Halford, ed. ''The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin'' Madison: Democrat Printing Co., State Printer, 1905; pp. 1066-67]</ref> In 1906, he was the Socialist nominee for Governor of Wisconsin, losing to Republican acting Governor [James O. Davidson](/source/James_O._Davidson), coming in third in a five-way race.<ref>[http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1907 Beck, J. D., ed. ''The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin''] Madison: Democrat Printing Co., State Printer, 1907; pg. 1120<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref>

He was a delegate to the Milwaukee [city charter](/source/city_charter) convention of 1908, and his translation of ''Changes in the theory and tactics of the (German) social-democracy'' by Paul Kampffmeyer was published by [Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company](/source/Charles_H._Kerr_Publishing_Company) that same year.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

===Legislative service===
[[File:Winfield R. Gaylord 1911.jpg|thumb|right|Gaylord's official [State Senate](/source/Wisconsin_Senate) portrait, 1909]]
Gaylord was elected in November 1908 to the [Wisconsin Senate](/source/Wisconsin_Senate) from the [6th State Senate district](/source/Wisconsin's_6th_State_Senate_district) (9th, 10th, 19th, 20th and 22nd [wards](/source/wards_of_the_United_States) of the city of Milwaukee) for a four-year term to succeed fellow Socialist [Jacob Rummel](/source/Jacob_Rummel), receiving 6,236 votes against 5,820 for Republican August Langhoff. He was appointed to the [standing committee](/source/standing_committee)s on [manufactures](/source/manufacturing) and [labor](/source/employment), and on [public health](/source/public_health).<ref>[http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1909 Beck, J. D., ed. ''The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin'' Madison: Democrat Printing Co., State Printer, 1909; pp. 492, 566, 1095]</ref>

[In 1910](/source/1910_United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections_in_Wisconsin), he was again the Socialist nominee for the 4th congressional district, coming in a close second to Democratic incumbent [William Joseph Cary](/source/William_Joseph_Cary). In that banner election year for the Socialist Party of Milwaukee, he came within 447 votes of unseating the incumbent.<ref>[http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1911 Beck, J. D., ed. ''The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin'' Madison: Democrat Printing Company, State Printer, 1911; p. 729]</ref>

[[File:"Socialists for Congress" Victor L. Berger and Winfield Gaylord.jpg|thumb|left|"Socialists for Congress" [campaign button](/source/campaign_button) featuring Gaylord and [Victor L. Berger](/source/Victor_L._Berger)]]
 
By 1911, he was the statewide [organizer](/source/Party_organizer) for the Socialist Party. [In 1912](/source/1912_United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections), with his Senate district had been [redistricted](/source/redistricting) out of existence (it had been split between new Fifth and Sixth districts, which were taken by Republican [George Weigel](/source/George_Weigel) and Democrat [George Weissleder](/source/George_Weissleder) respectively), he was again the Socialist nominee for the 4th congressional district, coming in second again to William Joseph Cary. He was also serving as [chairman](/source/Party_chair) of the Socialist Party's statewide executive committee.<ref>[http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1913 ''The Wisconsin blue book'' Madison: Democrat Printing Co., State Printer, 1913; pp. 600, 631]</ref> He was a congressional candidate again [in 1914](/source/1914_United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections_in_Wisconsin), and came within 365 votes of unseating Cary.<ref>[http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1915 ''The Wisconsin blue book, 1915''  Madison: Democrat Printing Co., State Printer, 1915; p. 230]</ref> [In 1916](/source/1916_United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections_in_Wisconsin), he still came in second and received almost one-third of the vote, but Cary extended his winning margin over Gaylord to almost one thousand votes.<ref>[http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1917 ''The Wisconsin blue book, 1917'' Madison: Democrat Printing Co., State Printer, 1917; p. 289]</ref>

===Influence and controversy===
Gaylord was credited by [Carl Sandburg](/source/Carl_Sandburg) with introducing him to the ideas of the [Wisconsin wing](/source/Sewer_Socialism) of the Socialist Party, and with persuading him to move to Wisconsin.<ref>Sandburg, Carl, with an introduction by Margaret Sandburg and George Hendrick. ''Ever the Winds of Chance'', Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1983, 1999; pg. 163; {{ISBN|978-0-252-06848-5}}</ref>

In May 1917, Gaylord and [A. M. Simons](/source/Algie_Martin_Simons) wrote a letter to [U.S. senator](/source/United_States_Senator) [Paul Husting](/source/Paul_Husting) denouncing him as a [traitor](/source/treason) to the anti-[World War I](/source/World_War_I) majority of the Socialist convention in April 1917 and recommending his suppression from the government, claimed a communication published in the ''[Congressional Record](/source/Congressional_Record)''. Husting used this letter and additional communications from Gaylord to the ''[Milwaukee Journal](/source/Milwaukee_Journal)'' in support of the [Espionage Act of 1917](/source/Espionage_Act_of_1917).<ref>"Socialists Expel Simons, Gaylord: County Central Committee Vote Stands 63 For and 3 Against" ''[Milwaukee Leader](/source/Milwaukee_Leader)'', vol 6, no. 143 (May 24, 1917), pg. 1</ref> As a result, the Milwaukee Central Committee of the Socialist Party took action against both Gaylord and Simons, expelling them for "Party Treason" by a vote of 63 to 2.<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/05/29/102348615.pdf "Two 'Traitors,'"] ''New York Times'', May 29, 1917.</ref>

He became a leading member of the pro-war element within the labor movement in the United States, speaking on platforms with such conservative icons as [Nicholas Murray Butler](/source/Nicholas_Murray_Butler). He was among those who were present at the September 1917 organizing meeting of the Wisconsin Loyalty Legion.<ref>Kull, George F.[http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1919 "Wisconsin Loyalty Legion" in "Wisconsin's War Activities" section of ''The Wisconsin blue book, 1919'' (Hunter, Paul F., ed.) Madison: Democrat Printing Co., State Printer, 1919; pp. 415-41; accessed June 21, 2017.]</ref> Gaylord died in [Palmetto, Florida](/source/Palmetto%2C_Florida) on February 23, 1943.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54641253/winfield-r-gaylord/ |title=Winfield R. Gaylord |newspaper=[Tampa Bay Times](/source/Tampa_Bay_Times) |page=15 |date=1943-02-24 |access-date=2020-07-03 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/gayle-geerlings.html Profile], politicalgraveyard.com.  Accessed June 21, 2017.</ref> His wife, Olive Semarimus Brown Gaylord (1872-1952), died nine years later.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before = William A. Arnold }}
{{s-ttl|title  = [Social Democratic](/source/Social_Democratic_Party_of_America) nominee for [Governor of Wisconsin](/source/Governor_of_Wisconsin) |years= [1906](/source/1906_Wisconsin_gubernatorial_election) }}
{{s-aft|after  = Harvey Dee Brown }}
{{s-par|us-wi-sen}}
{{s-bef|before = [Jacob Rummel](/source/Jacob_Rummel) }}
{{s-ttl|title  = {{nowrap|Member of the [Wisconsin Senate](/source/Wisconsin_Senate)}} {{nowrap|from the [6th](/source/Wisconsin's_6th_State_Senate_district) district}} |years= January 4, 1909{{spaced ndash}}January 6, 1913 }}
{{s-aft|after  = [George Weissleder](/source/George_Weissleder) }}
{{s-end}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaylord, Winfield}}
Category:1870 births
Category:1943 deaths
Category:Politicians from Cleveland
Category:People from Lee County, Mississippi
Category:Politicians from Milwaukee
Category:Wisconsin state senators
Category:Socialist Party of America politicians from Wisconsin
Category:Chicago Theological Seminary alumni
Category:20th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature
Category:Candidates in the 1914 United States House of Representatives elections

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Winfield Gaylord](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winfield_Gaylord) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winfield_Gaylord?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.