John Aldus McSparran (October 22, 1873 - January 28, 1944) was a prominent landholder and politician from

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...

. McSparran was the Democratic opponent to

Gifford Pinchot Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865October 4, 1946) was an American forester and politician. He served as the fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, as the first head of the United States Forest Service, and as the 28th governor of Pennsy ...

in the

1922 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election The 1922 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election occurred on November 7, 1922. Incumbent Republican governor William Sproul was not a candidate for re-election. Republican candidate Gifford Pinchot defeated Democratic candidate John A. McSparran ...

. McSparran attended

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...

and took up dairy farming in Lancaster County, where his family had long been seated. He served for years as Secretary, Treasurer and eventually Master of Pennsylvania State Grange. In 1931 Governor Gifford Pinchot appointed McSparran Secretary of Agriculture of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. McSparran married first Bettie Harrison Goodwyn, the daughter of Judge Charles Frederick Goodwyn and Susan Lacy Tuggle of Nottoway, Virginia descendants of

Peterson Goodwyn Peterson Goodwyn (1745February 21, 1818) was an American planter, lawyer, soldier and politician from Virginia. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1803 until his death in 1818. Early and family life Born at his father ...

, Virginia burgess William Thorton and Irish immigrant William Thorton. Mrs. McSparran was also the paternal great-aunt of Charles F. G. Kuyk and authors Henry Meade Williams and Mona Williams. They were the parents of five children including J. Collins McSparran. After the death of his first wife, McSparran married Sadie Holland.

References

*Beers, Paul D., ''Pennsylvania Politics Today and Yesterday: The Tolerable Accommodation'', Penn State University Press, 1980. *''Denatured alcohol: Hearings before the Committee on agriculture, House of representatives, Sixty-fourth Congress, first session, on H.R. 11256''., Government Printing Office, Washington D.C., July 14, 1916 *Freeman, C. M., ''Journal of proceedings of the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, Vol.'' 50., The Rumford Press., Concord N.H., 1916. {{DEFAULTSORT:McSparran, John A. Pennsylvania Democrats Politicians from Lancaster, Pennsylvania 1873 births 1944 deaths