The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Procter, John Robert
PROCTER, John Robert, American civil
service reformer: b. Mason County, Ky., 16

March 1844; d. Washington, D. C., 12 Dec.
1903. He was educated at the University of
Pennsylvania, but left there to join the
Confederate army in 1863 and served until the end
of the war. In 1873 he became assistant in the
Kentucky geological survey, and in 1880 State
geologist. In this office he was brought into
contact with the spoils system, to which his
opposition was so uncompromising that he
finally lost his position in 1893. In the same
year, however, he was appointed president of
the Civil Service Commission, a post which
he held till his death. His criticism of the
spoils system was based not only on its evil
moral and social effects, but also on its absurdity
as a method of conducting business and this
view he constantly presented most effectively.
His work as president of the commission was
the means of increasing the effectiveness of
the civil service, and of gaining for it recognition
in political life. He served as a member
of the Jury of Awards at the Chicago World's
Fair and was a frequent contributor to
magazines and journals on geologic, economic and
political subjects.