Area has produced its share of Massachusetts governors
Gov. Mitt Romney lives in Belmont, but have there been any other Massachusetts governors from the northwestern suburbs?
Yes, and some were even born here! Without going back to the earliest days of the Colonial governors, most of whom were born in Great Britain and had "Sir" before their names, there were seven -- before Romney -- who were either from, or of, towns in the northwestern suburbs who have been elected to the Commonwealth's highest office.
Born in Medford on May 4, 1752, John Brooks trained as a physician, practicing in Medford and Reading until the Revolutionary War, at which time he enlisted with the Reading Minutemen. He served at the battles of Concord, Bunker Hill, and Valley Forge and was present at Cornwallis's surrender. He was elected to the Massachusetts Senate in 1791 and served seven terms as governor, 1816-1823, during which time Maine became an independent entity from Massachusetts. Brooks died on March 1, 1825, and is buried in Medford.
Although George S. Boutwell was born in Brookline on Jan. 28, 1818, his ties were with Groton, and that is where he died on Feb. 27, 1905. He taught school in Shirley and was Groton's postmaster. He was a Massachusetts state representative from 1842 to 1850, governor from 1851 to 1853, and US representative from Massachusetts from 1863 to 1869. In 1869 he was appointed secretary of the Treasury by President Grant, serving until 1873, when he was elected to the US Senate from Massachusetts. His long career in public service also included six years on the state Board of Education. His former home is now the Groton Historical Society Museum.
Thomas Talbot was born in Cambridge, N.Y., on Sept. 7, 1818, and died in Lowell on Oct. 6, 1886. Having grown up working in the woolen business, Thomas joined his brother, Charles, in 1839 in Billerica. C. P. Talbot & Co. expanded over the years from grinding wool dyes to chemical production and a woolen mill. Thomas Talbot served on the Governor's Council and the Massachusetts Legislature for many years and was chosen in 1872 to serve as lieutenant governor to William B. Washburn. He rose to the highest office in 1873, when Washburn assumed a Senate seat in Washington. He lost the office in 1874, but won handily against Benjamin Butler in 1878, making his actual years of service 1874 to 1875 and 1879 to 1880.
Civil War General Benjamin Butler was born in Deerfield, N.H., in 1818 but has always been tied more closely with Massachusetts than with New Hampshire. A member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1853 and the Massachusetts Senate in 1859, Butler was elected to the United States Congress, serving from 1867 to 1875. He had just one term as governor, 1883 to 1884. Butler died in Washington D.C. on Jan. 11, 1893, and is buried in Lowell.
George Dexter Robinson, the 30th governor of the Commonwealth, was born in Lexington on Jan. 20, 1834. A graduate of Harvard, he was principal of Chicopee High School before studying law. He was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1874, the state Senate in 1876, and served in the United States Congress from 1877 to 1884. He resigned his congressional seat to accept the governorship, serving from 1884 to 1887. Robinson died in Chicopee on Feb. 22, 1896.
Samuel W. McCall was born in East Providence, Penn., in 1851 but lived in Winchester for 40 years. A graduate of Dartmouth, McCall was an attorney, author, and journalist. He served in the Massachusetts House from 1888 to 1892 and in the United States House of Representatives from 1893 to 1913. He was governor from 1916 to 1919. Editor of the Boston Advertiser from 1888 to 1889, McCall wrote a biography of Thaddeus Stevens and was working on one about Daniel Webster at the time of his death in 1923.
Endicott Peabody, who served a two-year term as governor in 1963 and 1964 was born Feb. 15, 1920, in Lawrence. A descendant of John Endecott, first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Peabody began his political career with the Governor's Council. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1960, but was elected in 1962, unseating John Volpe of Wakefield. Peabody also campaigned unsuccessfully for the Democratic vice presidential nomination in 1972 and lost attempts for the US Senate in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He and his wife moved to Hollis, N.H., in 1983, where he practiced law. Peabody died Dec. 1, 1997. He is buried in Groton.
