Background
Crane, Winthrop Murray was born on April 23, 1853 in Dalton, Massachusetts, United States. Son of Zenas Marshall and Louise (Laflin) Crane.
governor of Massachusetts politician United States senator
Crane, Winthrop Murray was born on April 23, 1853 in Dalton, Massachusetts, United States. Son of Zenas Marshall and Louise (Laflin) Crane.
Educated public schools and Williston Seminary. (A.M., Williams, 1897. Doctor of Laws, Harvard, 1903).
Born into the Dalton, Massachusetts family that owned the papermaking Crane & Co., he successfully expanded the company during the 1880s after securing an exclusive government contract to supply the paper for United States currency (a monopoly the company continues to hold). During the 1890s he became increasingly active in Republican Party politics. He served several times on the Republican National Committee, and was elected Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts 1896-99 and Governor of Massachusetts 1900-03.
In 1904 he was appointed by his successor John L. Bates to fill a vacated United States Senate seat, which he held until 1913. Crane was an advisor to Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, and served as a political mentor to Calvin Coolidge. His success in defusing a Teamsters strike while governor prompted Roosevelt to bring him in as a negotiator to resolve the Coal Strike of 1902.
He refused repeated offers for cabinet-level positions, and was known to dislike campaigning and giving speeches. He was highly regarded and popular in western Massachusetts. In 1872 Crane secured a major contract for the supply of wrapping paper to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, and followed this up in 1879, with an exclusive contract to paper for the Federal Reserve Notes, the currency of the United States.
The Crane Company continues to be the sole supplier of currency paper to the federal government today. The company continued significant growth throughout the 1880s and 1890s. They had three children: Stephen, Bruce, and poet Louise Crane.
He was hosting President Theodore Roosevelt in Pittsfield, Massachusetts on September 3, 1902 when a speeding trolley car rammed into the open-air horse carriage carrying Roosevelt. The accident killed the president's Secret Service agent, William Craig. Crane was appointed October 12, 1904 by Governor John L. Bates to continue the U.S. Senate term of the late George F. Hoar.
He was then elected in a January 18, 1905 special election to finish the term. he was re-elected in 1907, and served until 1913.
Member Crane & Company, paper manufacturers, also manufacturing paper used for currency. Lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, 1897-1899, governor, 1900-1902. Member Republican National Committee, 1892-1900 and from 1904.
Married Mary Benner, 1880 (died 1884). Married second, Josephine Porter, 1906.