Shelby Moore Cullom

Fifty Years of Public Service (Dodo Press) Shelby Moore Cullom

Governor Shelby Moore Cullom (1829-1914) was a U. S. political figure, serving in various offices, including the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate and governor of Illinois. Cullom was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives in 1856 and 1860-1861, serving as speaker of the house in 1861. He was elected as a Republican in 1864 to the Thirty-ninth, and reelected to the Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses (1865-1871). Cullom returned to the Illinois House of Representatives 1873-1874, and served as speaker in 1873. In 1876, he was elected governor of Illinois and served in that office from 1877-1883, when he resigned to take office as a US senator. Cullom was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1882, and reelected in 1888, 1894, 1900 and 1906, serving from 1883-1913. As a U. S. senator, he oversaw the passage of the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. He believed that only the federal government had the power to force railroads to provide fair treatment to all of its customers, large and small.