Francis G. Newlands

Francis Griffith Newlands (August 28, 1846December 24, 1917) was an American politician and land developer who served as United States representative and Senator from Nevada and a member of the Democratic Party. A supporter of westward expansion, he helped pass the Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902, which created the Bureau of Reclamation and boosted the agricultural industry by building dams to support irrigation in the arid Western states. An avowed white supremacist, Senator Newlands argued publicly for racial restrictions on immigration and repealing the 15th Amendment. As land developer, Newlands founded the neighborhoods of Chevy Chase, Washington, D.C.; and Chevy Chase, Maryland, and took steps to prevent non-white people from moving there. To enable the development of these streetcar suburbs, he founded the Rock Creek Railway, which became one of the two major streetcar companies serving the Washington, D.C., area in the early decades of the 20th century. Early life Newlands was born in Natchez, Mississippi, on August 28, 1846 (or 1848; sources differ). He was the fourth of five children born to Jessie and James Newlands, immigrants from Scotland. His father, trained as a physician in Edinburgh, died in 1851. Newlands was raised in Illinois and Washington, D.C.