Background
Guild was born on February 2, 1860, in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Curtis and Sarah Crocker (Cobb) Guild.
Diplomat journalist politician Soldier
Guild was born on February 2, 1860, in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Curtis and Sarah Crocker (Cobb) Guild.
Guild was educated at Miss Lewis's School, in Roxbury, the Chauncy Hall School, and at Harvard College, where he graduated with highest honors in 1881. He had served as class orator as well as editor of the Crimson and the Lampoon.
After a tour of Europe, Guild went through every department of the Commercial Bulletin, the financial newspaper founded by his father, and was made a partner in 1884. In 1902, upon the death of his uncle, he became the sole owner and editor. Having been an officer in the Harvard Rifle Corps, in 1891 he joined Troop A of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia and was elected second lieutenant May 7, 1895. In 1897 he was appointed to the staff of Gov. Roger Wolcott with the rank of brigadier-general. On the day after the blowing up of the Maine (February 15, 1898), Guild filed his name as a volunteer in the expected war with Spain and was shortly sent by the Governor on a special mission to Washington to ascertain what was to be required of Massachusetts. In April, after the declaration of war, he became adjutant of the 6th Cavalry, with the rank of first lieutenant, and was promoted lieutenant-colonel and inspector-general, VII Army Corps, later being made inspector-general of the Department of Havana. In these capacities he inaugurated a system of weekly inspection reports, helped break up the "fever camp" at Miami, Florida, prepared camp sites at Savannah, Georgia, and reformed slaughter-house practices in Havana. His record won him the commendation of the inspector-general of the army and of the War Department. Guild entered politics as president of the Republican State Convention in 1895. He was a delegate-at-large to the Republican National Convention of 1896, was made one of its vice-presidents, and was active in securing a gold plank in the platform. He was a campaign speaker in both 1896 and 1900 and was founder and first president of the Massachusetts Republican Club in 1901. He was elected, November 4, 1902, lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts on the ticket with John L. Bates. In 1905 he was elected governor by a plurality of 22, 558 votes and was re-elected for two additional terms. As governor he interested himself in labor legislation, especially in behalf of women and children, and urged measures providing for the better sanitation and ventilation of factories, a hospital for the feeble-minded, and new laws for the insane. It has been authoritatively stated that he initiated more legislation than any previous governor, and he unquestionably brought about many reforms. In 1908 he received seventy-five votes for the Republican nomination for vice-president. In 1910 he was sent by appointment of President Taft as special ambassador to the Mexican Centennial, and, on July 21, 1911, as ambassador to Russia. He retired to private life in 1913, after the inauguration of President Woodrow Wilson. Guild died on April 6, 1915 in Boston, after a brief illness. He is interred at Boston's Forest Hills Cemetery.
Member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, member of the Society of Colonial Wars, member of the Order of Foreign Wars, member of the Sons of the American Revolution
On June 1, 1892, Guild married Charlotte Howe Johnson, of Boston.