Nathaniel Mervin Haskell (September 27, 1912 – February 8, 1983) was an American attorney and

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 ...

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 ...

. Haskell served as the 62nd

Governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine is Ja ...

for 25 hours starting at 10:00 a.m. on January 6, 1953.

Biography

Haskell was born on September 27, 1912, in

Pittsfield, Maine Pittsfield is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,908 at the 2020 census. Pittsfield is home to the Maine Central Institute, a semi-private boarding school, and the annual Central Maine Egg Festival. History ...

. His parents died when he was two years old and his sister, Amelia, and her husband, Van Stevens, moved the family to

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. Haskell graduated from

Deering High School Deering High School (DHS) is a public high school in Portland, Maine, United States. The school is part of the Portland Public Schools district. It is one of the three public high schools located in Portland, the others being Portland High Scho ...

. Determined to be a lawyer, he graduated from the Peabody Law School in 1934 and was admitted to the Maine

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

. For the remainder of his life he maintained his legal office in downtown Portland. In 1943, Haskell was elected to 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 ...

and was reelected in 1945, 1947, and 1949 when he served as

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

. Elected to 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 ...

in 1951, he was reelected in 1953 and in that same year elected

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...

. Haskell's brief term of Governor was the result of constitutional succession in the wake of the 1952 elections. The outgoing Governor,

Frederick G. Payne Frederick George Payne (July 24, 1904 – June 15, 1978) was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as a United States Senate, U.S. Senator from Maine from 1953 to ...

, resigned early to begin preparing to take his new seat in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. With Maine having no

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

, the President of the Senate is next in the line of succession. At the time of Payne's resignation,

Burton M. Cross Burton Melvin Cross (November 15, 1902 – October 22, 1998) was an American Republican businessman and politician. Cross was Maine's 61st and 63rd Governor, though his two terms were separated by just 25 hours. Biography Born in Augusta, Main ...

became Governor by virtue of holding that office. However, Cross had also been elected Governor; his elected term was scheduled to begin on January 7, 1953. At 10:00am on January 6, 1953, Cross's term as Senate President (and therefore Governor) expired. Haskell, as the newly elected president, became Governor until the inaugural ceremony was held at 11:00am the next day.http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/110921.html He was not closely related to

Robert Haskell Robert Nance Haskell (August 24, 1903 – December 3, 1987) was a Maine state senator and the 65th Governor of Maine for five days in 1959. Haskell graduated from the University of Maine with an engineering degree in 1925. He became a design e ...

, another Senate President who briefly became governor in between the terms of a prior one and a newly elected one. Haskell continued as President for the 1953 regular session only, resigning prior to the start of the special session held later that year to accept the appointment as

Probate Judge A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts may be referred to as Orphans' Courts o ...

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 ...

. He died on February 8, 1983, in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haskell, Nathaniel M. 1912 births 1983 deaths Speakers of the Maine House of Representatives Republican Party members of the Maine House of Representatives Presidents of the Maine Senate Republican Party Maine state senators Maine state court judges Republican Party governors of Maine People from Pittsfield, Maine Politicians from Portland, Maine University of Maine School of Law alumni 20th-century American judges Deering High School alumni 20th-century American politicians