Massachusetts
Gov. John Davis Long
- January 8, 1880 - January 4, 1883
- Republican
- October 27, 1838
- August 28, 1915
- Maine
- Harvard University
- Married twice--Mary Woodard Glover, Agnes Pierce; three children
- Representative, Cabinet secretary
About
JOHN D. LONG, the thirty-fourth governor of Massachusetts, was born in Buckfield, Maine on October 27, 1838. His education was attained at the Hebron Academy, and later at Harvard University, where he earned his undergraduate degree in 1857 and then studied law. After establishing his legal practice in Boston, Long entered into a political career. He first served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1875 to 1878, was speaker of the house from 1876 to 1878, and served as the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts in 1879. Long won the Republican gubernatorial nomination, and then went on to win election to the Massachusetts governorship on November 4, 1879. He was reelected to a second term in 1880, and to a third term in 1881. During his tenure, the state’s capital punishment law was disputed; taxes on local shipping and mortgages were cut; and state government was reorganized. After declining to run for reelection, Long left office on January 4, 1883. He stayed politically active, serving as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1883 to 1889, as well as serving as the U.S. Secretary of the Navy from 1897 to 1902. Governor John D. Long, who authored several periodicals, passed away on August 28, 1915. He was buried in the Hingham Cemetery in Hingham, Massachusetts.
Source
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.
