Background
Eshleman, John Morton was born on June 14, 1876 in Villa Ridge, Illinois, United States. Son of William J. and Rachel Elizabeth (Kelly) Eshleman.
Eshleman, John Morton was born on June 14, 1876 in Villa Ridge, Illinois, United States. Son of William J. and Rachel Elizabeth (Kelly) Eshleman.
Bachelor of Arts, University of California, 1902, Master of Arts, 1903.
He was Lieutenant Governor of California from 1915 to 1916. Eshleman received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley in 1902, and the next year he received his Master of Arts there. At Berkeley, he was president of the student government.
Eshleman was admitted to the California Bar in 1905 and was appointed Deputy State Labor Commissioner by Governor George Pardee.
Eshleman ran for the state legislature on a Republican and Union-Labor ticket and was elected to the 38th California Assembly from the 52d District (Berkeley) in 1907. Though appointed Deputy District Attorney of Alameda County, he did not serve, moving instead to the Imperial Valley in Southern California for the dry air because of his poor health.
When Imperial County was created from the eastern part of San Diego County in August 1907, Eshleman was chosen the first District Attorney of the county, serving 1907 to 1910. He left the District Attorney post in 1910 with his election as Railroad Commissioner from the Third District.
The next year he was President of the Railroad Commission.
Eshleman was elected Lieutenant Governor as a Progressive in 1914. He was inaugurated January 5, 1915 and served under Governor Hiram Johnson until Eshleman"s death in 1916. He died of tuberculosis at Indio, California, and was buried in Inglewood Cemetery.
His body was subsequently moved to the Sunset View Cemetery at El Cerrito in 1956.
Johnson appointed William Stephens to replace him as lieutenant governor. Eshleman also served as an ex officio regent of the University of California by virtue of his office as lieutenant governor.
The student union at University of California Berkeley was named Eshleman Hall in his honor. This building was later renamed Moses Hall.
A new building (1965) called Eshleman Hall was subsequently erected, which housed various student groups including the campus newspaper, The Daily Californian.
Eshleman Hall was demolished in the summer of 2013 and rebuilt in 2015. Eshleman married Elizabeth Ledgett in 1906. Jack was an activist for labor rights and, during World World War II, helped bring about the demise of "auxiliary" (segregated) unions in the Kaiser shipyards.
Eshleman also had two other children, Kathryn Eshleman Wahl, a women"s editor at the Oakland Tribune, and Robert T. Eshleman, a prominent Bay Area attorney.
Mason.
Married Elizabeth Ledgett, September 5, 1906.