PoliticalGraveyard.com

Telephone and Telegraph Politicians in Massachusetts

Walter Sherman Gifford (1885-1966) — of Manhattan, New York County, N.Y.; North Castle town, Westchester County, N.Y. Born in Salem, Essex County, Mass., January 10, 1885. U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain, 1950-53. Member, American Philosophical Society. President of American Telephone & Telegraph Co. Died in Manhattan, New York County, N.Y., May 7, 1966 (age 81 years, 117 days). Interment at Middle Patent Rural Cemetery, Bedford, N.Y.   Relatives: Son of Nathan Poole Gifford and Harriet Maria (Spinney) Gifford; married, October 28, 1916, to Florence Pitman; married, December 22, 1944, to Augustine Lloyd Perry.   See also U.S. State Dept career summary — NNDB dossier — Find-A-Grave memorial Carl Elias Milliken (1877-1961) — also known as Carl E. Milliken — of Island Falls, Aroostook County, Maine. Born in Pittsfield, Somerset County, Maine, July 13, 1877. Republican. Lumber manufacturer; president, Katahdin Farmers Telephone Company; member of Maine state house of representatives, 1905-08; alternate delegate to Republican National Convention from Maine, 1908; member of Maine state senate, 1909-14; Governor of Maine, 1917-21. Baptist. Died in Springfield, Hampden County, Mass., May 1, 1961 (age 83 years, 292 days). Burial location unknown.   Relatives: Son of Phoebe Ellen (Knowlton) Milliken and Charles Arthur Milliken; married, July 31, 1901, to Emma Vivian Chase; third cousin once removed of Fred Melville Libby.   Political family: Libby-Felt family of Maine (subset of the Four Thousand Related Politicians).   See also National Governors Association biography   Image source: Library of Congress Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872) — also known as Samuel F. B. Morse — of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, N.Y. Born in Charlestown, Boston, Suffolk County, Mass., April 27, 1791. Artist; inventor of the telegraph; candidate for mayor of New York City, N.Y., 1841; candidate for U.S. Representative from New York 12th District, 1854. Member, Phi Beta Kappa. Died, of pneumonia, in New York, New York County, N.Y., April 2, 1872 (age 80 years, 341 days). Interment at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.   Relatives: Son of Jedidiah Morse and Elizabeth Ann Finley (Breese) Morse; married, September 29, 1818, to Lucretia Pickering Walker; married, August 10, 1848, to Sarah Elizabeth Griswold.   See also Wikipedia article — NNDB dossier — Find-A-Grave memorial   Image source: U.S. postage stamp (1940) Henry Clay Payne (1843-1904) — also known as Henry C. Payne — of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wis. Born in Ashfield, Franklin County, Mass., November 23, 1843. Republican. Postmaster at Milwaukee, Wis., 1876-85; president, Wisconsin Telephone Company; president, Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company; president, American Street Railway Association; receiver, Northern Pacific Railroad; member of Republican National Committee from Wisconsin, 1880-1904; Chairman of Republican National Committee, 1904; Wisconsin Republican state chair, 1892; U.S. Postmaster General, 1902-04; died in office 1904. Methodist. Died in Washington, D.C., October 4, 1904 (age 60 years, 316 days). Interment at Forest Home Cemetery, Milwaukee, Wis.   Presumably named for: Henry Clay   Relatives: Son of Orrin P. Payne and Eliza (Ames) Payne; married, October 15, 1867, to Lydia W. Van Dyke.   The World War II Liberty ship SS Henry C. Payne (built 1943 at Richmond, California; scrapped 1967) was named for him.   See also Wikipedia article — Find-A-Grave memorial   Image source: American Monthly Review of Reviews, January 1902   Jack E. Robinson III — of Boston, Suffolk County, Mass. Republican. Airline executive; founder, Oceanic Digital Communications (provider of cell phone service in the Caribbean); Republican candidate for U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, 2000, 2009 (primary); candidate for secretary of state of Massachusetts, 2002; candidate for U.S. Representative from Massachusetts 9th District, 2006. African ancestry. Still living as of 2009.   William Wheelwright (1798-1873) — Born in Newburyport, Essex County, Mass., March 18, 1798. Ship captain; U.S. Consul in Guayaquil, 1825-28; built railroads in South America; organized the Pacific Steamship Navigation Company; created the first telegraph lines in South America. Died in London, England, September 26, 1873 (age 75 years, 192 days). Interment at Oak Hill Cemetery, Newburyport, Mass.   Relatives: Son of Ebenezer Wheelwright and Anna (Coombs) Wheelwright; married, February 10, 1829, to Martha Gerrish.   The town of Wheelwright, Argentina, is named for him.   See also Wikipedia article — Find-A-Grave memorial

"Enjoy the hospitable entertainment of a political graveyard." Henry L. Clinton, Apollo Hall, New York City, February 3, 1872

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