Page:A Brief History of South Dakota.djvu/216

Crawford Robert S. Vessey succeeded Governor Crawford in 1909, and Crawford was elected United States senator.

Each of the governors of South Dakota has been supported by an efficient corps of state officers, all of whom have made creditable official records, except William W. Taylor, state treasurer in 1891-1895. At the end of his term he found himself about $150,000 short in his accounts, and
Vessey upon the advice of a firm of Chicago attorneys, he carried away the remainder of the state money, aggregating $367,000, in the belief that the state would compromise with him. Finding after several months that a compromise could not be effected, he surrendered and served a term in the penitentiary.