Governor Fred M. Warner

This large white Civil War-era house in the center of Farmington’s historic district has been the residence of the Warner family for many decades. Here lived Fred M. Warner, governor of Michigan from 1905 to 1911. Born in England in 1865, Warner spent most of his life in this city and served as its state senator from 1895 to 1898. An agriculturist and businessman, he established in 1889 the first of his thirteen cheese factories. From 1901 to 1904, Warner was secretary of state. Then he was elected to the first of three terms as state chief executive. This Republican governor championed many Progressive Era programs including regulation of railroads and insurance, conservation, food inspection, child labor laws, direct primary elections, and woman’s suffrage. Warner died in 1923, leaving a legacy of reform-minded years.