Beryl F. Carroll

Beryl Franklin Carroll was the 20th governor of Iowa from 1909 to 1913. He was the first native-born governor of Iowa.

Early life

Carroll was born in Davis County, Iowa, the second youngest of 13 to Willis and Christena Carroll. He graduated from the Missouri State Normal School in 1884, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Education. He would spend the next 5 years teaching, first as a principal in Jamesport, Missouri then as superintendent in Rich Hill, Missouri.
On June 15, 1886, he married his fellow Truman State student Jennie Dodson. They had a son, Paul, born in 1889, and daughter, Jean, born in 1900.
On January 1, 1891, he bought half of the Davis County Republican, co-owning it with A. H. Fortune, the postmaster of Bloomfield at the time. In 1893, he bought out the full interest of the newspaper.

Political career

He was a member of the Iowa Senate, Postmaster of Bloomfield, Iowa, and Iowa State Auditor. He was elected Governor in 1908 and reelected in 1910.
During his tenure, Carroll established the State Board of Education, helped in getting firefighters and police officers a pension plan and advocating for miners.
On November 30, 1910, Governor Carroll was hailed as a hero for entering a burning building in Des Moines and retrieving a trunk containing valuable property.

Later life

After leaving office, Carroll worked in the life insurance business in Des Moines. He died in Bloomfield, and was buried at the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Bloomfield.
His nephew, Herbert Carroll, was also an Senator from Iowa's 3rd Senate district from 1931 to 1933.