Governor Rolland Harty Spaulding

ROLLAND H. SPAULDING, the sixty-fourth governor of New Hampshire, and brother of New Hampshire Governor Huntley Spaulding, was born in Townsend Harbor, Massachusetts on March 15, 1873. His education was attained at Phillips Academy, where he graduated in 1893. After working in the family’s fiberboard business, Spaulding became interested in state politics, particularly with the state’s progressive movement in 1905. He also served as a delegate to the 1912 Republican National Convention. Spaulding next secured the Republican gubernatorial nomination, and was elected governor by a popular vote in the 1914 general election. During his tenure, municipal finances were improved; the state highway department was restructured; state agencies were run more efficiently; and reduction of the state tax was lobbied for. After declining to run for reelection, Spaulding retired from political life. He returned to his various business interests, as well as serving as president of the New Hampshire Defense League. Governor Rolland H. Spaulding passed away on March 14, 1942 in Rochester, New Hampshire.