Governor Winthrop Murray Crane

WINTHROP M. CRANE, the forty-second governor of Massachusetts, was born in Dalton, Massachusetts on April 23, 1853. His education was attained at the Wilbraham Academy, and then at the Williston Seminary. He worked in his family’s successful paper business, which had a contract with the federal government to supply the paper used in the printing of U.S. currency. Crane entered politics in 1892, serving as a member of the Republican national Committee, a position he held again in 1896, 1904 and 1908. He also served as the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts from 1897 to 1900. Crane next secured the Republican gubernatorial nomination, and then went on to win election to the governorship on November 7, 1899. He was reelected to a second term in 1900, and to a third term in 1901. During his tenure, a mental institution was authorized; a teamsters’ strike was dealt with; and railroad leases were approved. After completing his term, Crane left office on January 8, 1903. He stayed politically active, serving as a member of the U.S. Senate from 1904 to 1913. Governor Winthrop M. Crane passed away on October 2, 1920, and was buried in the Dalton Cemetery in Dalton, Massachusetts.