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Higher Office(s) Served: Ambassador

Military Service: Army

War(s) Served:  Spanish-American War

CURTIS GUILD JR., the forty-fifth governor of Massachusetts, was born in Boston, Massachusetts on February 2, 1860. His early education was attained at the Chauncey Hall School, and later at Harvard University, where he graduated in 1881. He went to work in the family's successful newspaper business, eventually becoming the sole owner in 1902. Guild served during the Spanish-American War, first as a brigadier general and later as the inspector general of the Department of Havana. After his military service, Guild entered into politics. He was the first president of the Massachusetts Republican Club in 1901, and served as the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts from 1903 to 1905. Guild next secured the Republican gubernatorial nomination, and went on to win election to the governorship on November 7, 1905. He was reelected to a second term in 1906, and to a third term in 1907. During his tenure, social welfare measures were sanctioned; women and children's labor laws were improved; and factory work conditions were advanced.  After completing his term, Guild left office on January 7, 1909. He later served as the U.S. Ambassador to Russian from 1911 to 1913. Governor Curtis Guild Jr. passed away on April 6, 1815, and was buried in the Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts.

Sources:

Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 2, Westport, Conn.; Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.

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