Alexander Speirs (1859-October 9, 1927) was an American politician from

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, Speirs represented

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Cumberland, historic county *Cumberlan ...

in the

Maine Senate The Maine Senate is the upper house of the Maine Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. The Senate currently consists of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, though the Maine Constitution ...

from 1923 to his death in 1927. He also served in the

Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via p ...

in 1917. While in office, Speirs promoted education and opposed raising the gas tax.

Personal

Speirs was born in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and immigrated to the United States in 1860 at the age of one. Having grown up in Portland, Speirs settled in

Westbrook, Maine Westbrook is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States and a suburb of Portland. The population was 20,400 at the 2020 census, making it the fastest-growing city in Maine between 2010 and 2020. It is part of the Portland– South Portla ...

, where he spent the final 31 years of his life. Speirs died suddenly on October 9, 1927, at St. Barnabas Hospital in Woodfords and was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in Westbrook. His funeral was attended by many important political figures, including current Governor

Owen Brewster Ralph Owen Brewster (February 22, 1888 – December 25, 1961) was an American politician from Maine. Brewster, a Republican, served as the 54th Governor of Maine from 1925 to 1929, in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1935 to 1941 and in t ...

, former Governor

Percival Baxter Percival Proctor Baxter (November 22, 1876 – June 12, 1969) was an American politician and philanthropist from Maine. The son of canning magnate and Portland, Maine mayor James Phinney Baxter, he served as the 53rd Governor of the U.S. state ...

, current

President of the Maine Senate The position of President of the Maine Senate was created when Maine separated from Massachusetts and achieved statehood in 1820. The Maine Legislature had one year terms until 1880, when an amendment to the Maine Constitution took effect to prov ...

Frank H. Holley Frank H. Holley (May 19, 1880 – October 9, 1949) was an American politician from Maine. Holley, a Republican from Anson, Maine, was first elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 1916. Re-elected in 1918, 1920 and 1922, he was chosen as ...

as well as Senators Arthur Spear, Raymond Oakes and Paul Slocum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Speirs, Alexander 1859 births 1927 deaths Scottish emigrants to the United States Politicians from Westbrook, Maine Republican Party Maine state senators Republican Party members of the Maine House of Representatives Politicians from Portland, Maine