He was nicknamed "Potato Pingree."

And he was the Enterprise's favorite for governor, but not because Leelanau happened to be a prodigious grower of potatoes.

It was all about politics.

On Oct. 29, 1896, the newspaper printed a glowing profile of Hazen Pingree. The first paragraph stated: “He lives in the beautiful city of the straits. He is the republican candidate for governor of his state. He will undoubtedly be chief executive of Michigan upon and after January 1, 1897; yet his fame, his prestige, his hold upon the popular heart do not depend on the issues of November 3, nor has Michigan any longer the sole claim on him, for he belongs to the nation, and in one sense to the world.”The “city of the straits” alluded to was not Mackinaw City or St. Igance, but rather Detroit, where as mayor he resided in a mansion on Woodward Avenue.

“He was born at Denmark, Maine, August 30, 1840, and is the son of Jasper Pingree; his mother’s maiden name was Adaline Bryant,” read the article in the Enterprise. “The family records have been faithfully kept, and show that the mayor of Detroit is of the eighth generation of Pingrees born on American soil.”

As a young man, Pingree worked as a cobbler, and, after serving in the Civil War, parlayed several hundred dollars into what became a fortune in the shoe business.

His personal financial situation secure, he ran for mayor of Detroit and was elected to three terms. Initially, he had the support of many other businessmen. But, once he was in office, they were shocked to find out what a real "maverick" he could be.

“Pingree was ahead of his time when he advocated such things as a graduated income tax, the eight-hour workday, and the direct election of U.S. senators,” Glen Arbor author George Weeks wrote in his book, Stewards of the State.And, in the state’s top office, “reformer Hazen S. Pingree, one of the most forceful and extraordinary figures in Michigan politics, was unquestionably its most unorthodox governor.”

Although Pingree, after first being elected mayor, soon alienated many of "the powers that be," he was very popular with the people and proved to be a powerful vote-getter. And that, in a nutshell, is how he later happened to become governor.

“When the Panic of 1893 hit Detroit, Pingree permitted the unemployed to use vacant city land to plant gardens and grow their own food,” Michigan historian Willis Dunbar wrote. “He sold his riding horse at auction to provide seed.”

And, because of this, he sometimes became known as “Potato Pingree.”

He also battled for lower streetcar and utility rates and became the champion of “the little people,”who overwhelmingly supported him on election day.

Although horrified by some of his ideas, late 19th century politicos took careful note of his vote-capturing ability (as high as 67 percent of the vote for Detroit mayor) and looked favorably upon Pingree as a savior from a much worse specter – William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic nominee for president in 1896.

In any event, the idea was to nominate a gubernatorial candidate who could help carry the Republican presidential nominee, William McKinley, into office “on his coat-tails.”

The Republicans knew they had a winner in Pingree and many business leaders in Detroit liked the idea of getting Pingree out of the city. It was felt that, once he was in Lansing, he could be controlled, anyway.

And that is pretty much how things played out.

But, to back up briefly, the Enterprise noted in its October 1896 profile of Pingree that it was in Detroit that “he has been most approved, and most opposed; most enthusiastically admired and applauded, most cordially hated, feared and execrated; here he has made friends who would die for him and foes who hesitate at no device against him.”

But the Enterprise had only praise for candidate Pingree.

“He has entered with sympathy into the wants of the needy, and his plan of permitting the poor and unemployed to plant and cultivate the waste and idle lands in and about the city, has not only fed hungry thousands, but stimulated in them a love of honest labor, and given to many, doubtless, their first impulse to manly independence and thrift,” the paper opined.The Enterprise biography, which portrayed Mrs. Pingree as “ a modest, beautiful and discreet power behind the throne,” concluded with a paragraph on the couple’s residence:

“The Pingree home on Woodward avenue is a delightful place, not only for outward beauty, but for domestic charm, cultured refinement and hospitable good cheer.”

Support from Michigan newspapers such as the Enterprise helped Pingree became governor, and he was easily re-elected in 1898 to a second term.

“The Spanish-American War broke out during Pingree’s first term,” Weeks write. “To assure that Michigan troops training for the conflict were well cared for, he lived with them in training camp.”

Pingree’s terms of governor in Lansing provided a “preview” of the reform era, of which he was precursor.And, in his final message to the state legislature in January 1901, he couldn’t resist a parting shot.

“It is your special privilege and duty to bring the so-called ‘merchant princes’ and ‘captains of industry’ in this country to a realization of the fact that our laboring men are something more than tools to be used in the senseless chase after wealth.”

Then he went off to hunt big game in Africa – just as “Teddy”

Roosevelt would also later do, after he left office.