Taft appointed Ohio native as the final territorial governor
The last of Arizona's 17 territorial governors was Richard E. Sloan, a Republican and Ohio native who had come to Arizona about 1885 to relieve his asthma and hay fever.
He was Pinal County attorney and served in both the Territorial Legislature and on the Supreme Court.
President William Howard Taft appointed Sloan governor in 1909, and he spent the next three years pushing for statehood.
The Arizona Daily Star reported that one of his final acts as governor was to issue reprieves for 14 convicts, including one who had gunned down a claim-jumper.
After statehood, Sloan practiced law in Phoenix.
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