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Higher Office(s) Served: Senator

DAVID I. WALSH, the forty-eighth governor of Massachusetts, was born in Leominster, Massachusetts on November 11, 1872. His education was attained at Holy Cross, where he graduated in 1893, and at Boston University, where he earned his law degree four years later. After establishing legal practices in Fitchburg and Boston, Walsh entered into politics. He served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1900 to 1901, and was the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts from 1913 to 1914. Walsh secured the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, and then went on to win election to the governorship on November 4, 1913. He was reelected to a second term in 1914. During his tenure, women's voting rights were advocated for; worker's compensation reform measures were promoted; and college extension classes were instituted, as well as the state's first correspondence courses. After running unsuccessfully for a third term, Walsh left office on January 6, 1916. He continued to stay politically active, serving as a delegate at large to the 1917 and 1918 Massachusetts Constitutional Conventions. He also served as a member of the U.S. Senate from 1918 to 1925 and 1926 to 1947. Governor David I. Walsh passed away on June 11, 1947, and was buried in the St. John Cemetery in Clinton, 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.

Biographical Directory of the US Congress

Interactive State House