Winthrop Murray Crane (commonly referred to as W. Murray Crane or simply Murray Crane; April 23, 1853October 2, 1920) was an American
political figure
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
and businessman.
In 1879, he secured his family company, paper manufacturer
Crane & Co., an exclusive government contract to supply the paper for United States currency, a monopoly the company holds to this day. During the 1890s he became increasingly active in state
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 ...
politics, and became a dominant figure in the local, state, and national party. He was successively elected
Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
The lieutenant governor of Massachusetts is the first in the line to discharge the powers and duties of the office of governor following the incapacitation of the Governor of Massachusetts. The constitutional honorific title for the office is His ...
(in 1896) and
Governor of Massachusetts
The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces.
Massachusetts ...
(in 1899). In 1904, he was appointed to 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 ...
and served until 1913.
Crane advised Presidents
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
and
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
. His success as Governor in defusing a
Teamsters
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the u ...
strike prompted Roosevelt to bring him in as a negotiator to resolve the
Coal Strike of 1902
The Coal strike of 1902 (also known as the anthracite coal strike) was a strike by the United Mine Workers of America in the anthracite coalfields of eastern Pennsylvania. Miners struck for higher wages, shorter workdays, and the recognition of ...
. He refused repeated offers for cabinet-level positions and was known to dislike campaigning and giving speeches. Near the end of his career, he served as a political mentor to future President
Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...
, who was elected Vice President one month after Crane's death.
Early life
Winthrop Murray Crane was born in
Dalton, Massachusetts
Dalton is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Dalton is a transition town between the urban and rural portions of Berkshire County. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,330 at th ...
on April 23, 1853. His mother was Louise Fanny Laflin. His father, Zenas Marshall Crane, was owner of the
Crane Paper Company, a dominant economic force in the small community and a major producer of paper products.
Early career
Crane & Co.
In 1870, Crane entered the family business and, with his brother Zenas, Jr., presided over a period of significant growth of the company.
In 1872, Crane secured a major contract for the supply of wrapping paper to the
Winchester Repeating Arms Company
The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American manufacturer of repeating firearms and ammunition. The firm was established in 1866 by Oliver Winchester and was located in New Haven, Connecticut. The firm went into receivership ...
, and followed this up in 1879, with an exclusive contract to paper for the
Federal Reserve Notes
Federal Reserve Notes, also United States banknotes, are the currently issued banknotes of the United States dollar. The United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing produces the notes under the authority of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 ...
, the currency of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. The Crane Company continues to be the sole supplier of currency paper to the federal government today.
The company continued to grow throughout the 1890s, and Crane amassed a significant fortune by investing in the
Otis Elevator Company
Otis Worldwide Corporation (trade name, branded as the Otis Elevator Company, its former legal name) is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets elevators, escalators, moving walkways, and related equipment.
Based in Farming ...
and in
American Telephone and Telegraph Company
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...
.
[Abrams, p. 39]
Entry to politics
In 1892, Crane was elected as a delegate to the
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...
as a candidate of the "Young Republican Club," a faction of Massachusetts
Republicans, organized in 1888, who would come to dominate the state party apparatus and political landscape.
[Abrams, p. 40]
After the convention, Crane was elected Chairman of the
Massachusetts Republican Party
The Massachusetts Republican Party (MassGOP) is the Massachusetts branch of the U.S. Republican Party.
In accordance with Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 52, the party is governed by a state committee which consists of one man and one woma ...
. Although he was from western Massachusetts, he was viewed by the party's mainly eastern leadership as a "safe" and moderate choice, who would be good at fundraising.
[Abrams, p. 41] Although Crane was politically conservative, he was adept at negotiating the differences between the wings of the party and refused to become deeply entrenched into either the progressive or conservative wing.
[Abrams, p. 42] He was also well known as a somewhat taciturn politician, who did not make stump speeches while campaigning, and is not recorded as having made speeches on the floors of the legislative bodies in which he served.
[Hart, pp. 5:175]
Governor of Massachusetts
In 1896, Crane was elected
Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
The lieutenant governor of Massachusetts is the first in the line to discharge the powers and duties of the office of governor following the incapacitation of the Governor of Massachusetts. The constitutional honorific title for the office is His ...
, serving under another Young Republican,
Roger Wolcott. The office was part of a traditional ''
cursus honorum
The ''cursus honorum'' (; , or more colloquially 'ladder of offices') was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The '' ...
'' in Massachusetts Republican politics, with the next step being the Governorship. When Wolcott retired after his traditional third one-year term, Crane ran for Governor. He won a comfortable victory against a disorganized Democratic opposition and was reelected the next two years by wide margins.
Crane's tenure as governor was marked by fiscal conservatism, business-like management, and relatively little reform. His leadership was characterized as non-partisan and was viewed with favor even by Democrats.
In 1902, Crane successfully negotiated a Teamsters strike,
[Abrams, p. 81] and was then called in by President
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
to mediate the
1902 Coal Strike, which threatened national winter coal supplies.
He vetoed legislative authorization of a merger between the
Boston Elevated Railway
The Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) was a streetcar and rapid transit railroad operated on, above, and below, the streets of Boston, Massachusetts and surrounding communities. Founded in 1894, it eventually acquired the West End Street Railwa ...
and the
West End Street Railway
The West End Street Railway was a streetcar company that operated in Boston, Massachusetts and several surrounding communities in the late nineteenth century.
Originally an offshoot of a land development venture, the West End rose to prominence ...
, in part because it did not contain a clause calling for a referendum by the affected populations. He did, however, sign legislation authorizing the lease of the
Fitchburg Railroad
The Fitchburg Railroad is a former railroad company, which built a railroad line across northern Massachusetts, United States, leading to and through the Hoosac Tunnel. The Fitchburg was leased to the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1900. The main li ...
to the
Boston and Maine Railroad
The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. Originally chartered in 1835, it became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022).
At the end of 1970, B ...
, and of the
Boston and Albany Railroad
The Boston and Albany Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Albany, New York, later becoming part of the New York Central Railroad system, Conrail, and CSX Transportation. The line is currently used by CSX for freight. Pass ...
to the
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
. Crane was a major shareholder in the New York Central.
Crane was hosting President Roosevelt in
Pittsfield
Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfieldâ ...
on September 3, 1902 when a speeding
trolley car
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
rammed into the open-air
horse carriage
A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping ...
carrying Roosevelt. The accident killed the president's
Secret Service
A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...
agent,
William Craig.
United States Senator
Crane was appointed October 12, 1904 by Governor
John L. Bates to continue the U.S. Senate term of the late
George F. Hoar
George Frisbie Hoar (August 29, 1826 – September 30, 1904) was an American attorney and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1877 to 1904. He belonged to an extended family that became politically prominen ...
. 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.
As Senator, Crane was famous for his lack of public statements and behind-the-scenes maneuvering. Senator from New York
Chauncey Depew
Chauncey Mitchell Depew (April 23, 1834April 5, 1928) was an American attorney, businessman, and Republican politician. He is best remembered for his two terms as United States Senator from New York and for his work for Cornelius Vanderbilt, as ...
wrote that Crane "never made a speech. I do not remember that he made a motion. Yet he was the most influential member of that body."
[Abrams, p. 38] Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...
observed that "his influence was very great, but that it was of an intangible nature."
[ He was also known to often choose inaction over action on many matters, with a common answer to requests for advice being "Do nothing.][ As U.S. Senator, he used his influence to help secure the state's approval of a merger of the Boston and Maine with the ]New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...
.
He was an opponent of reciprocity (reduced tariffs) with Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and the Dominion of Newfoundland
Newfoundland was a British dominion in eastern North America, today the modern Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was established on 26 September 1907, and confirmed by the Balfour Declaration of 1926 and the Statute of Westmi ...
, working to water down provisions of a proposed treaty.
In 1905, Crane may have been instrumental in denying Democrat William L. Douglas a second term as governor. Douglas, a successful and widely-known shoe manufacturer, won election in 1904 with labor support and high name recognition. According to Charles S. Hamlin, Republicans discovered that Douglas had apparently fraudulently acquired an honorable discharge
A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and th ...
after deserting during the Civil War. The ''quid pro quo
Quid pro quo ('what for what' in Latin) is a Latin phrase used in English to mean an exchange of goods or services, in which one transfer is contingent upon the other; "a favor for a favor". Phrases with similar meanings include: "give and take", ...
'' for this information not being revealed, supposedly engineered by Crane and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, was that Douglas would not run again.
In the 1908 presidential election, Crane expressed early support for William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
, but later came to oppose Taft, believing him a weak candidate. This placed him in opposition to fellow Senator Henry Cabot Lodge
Henry Cabot Lodge (May 12, 1850 November 9, 1924) was an American Republican politician, historian, and statesman from Massachusetts. He served in the United States Senate from 1893 to 1924 and is best known for his positions on foreign policy. ...
, a strong Taft supporter, in a struggle for control of the state delegation to the national convention
The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year National ...
. Crane preferred to leave the delegates without formal instruction as to how they should vote, while Lodge preferred that they be required to pledge for Taft. Crane won Lodge's support for an uncommitted delegation in exchange for the election of John Davis Long
John Davis Long (October 27, 1838 – August 28, 1915) was an American lawyer, politician, and writer from Massachusetts. He was the 32nd Governor of Massachusetts, serving from 1880 to 1883. He later served as the Secretary of the Navy from 18 ...
, a Taft supporter, as an at-large delegate. Crane ultimately reconciled with both Taft and Lodge. He became one of Taft's closest advisors after his election and worked to secure Lodge's reelection in 1911.
In the 1912 general election, the Republican Party was divided by Roosevelt's defection, and conservative elements of the party dominated the state legislature's caucus. This resulted in the election in early 1913 of the ultraconservative John W. Weeks
John Wingate Weeks (April 11, 1860July 12, 1926) was an American banker and politician from Massachusetts. A Republican, he served as Mayor of Newton from 1902 to 1903, a United States representative from 1905 to 1913, United States Senator fr ...
over Crane for the Senate seat.
Personal life and death
In 1880, Crane married Mary Benner. She died in 1884 giving birth to their only child, Winthrop Murray Crane Jr.
In 1906, Crane married socialite Josephine Porter Boardman
Josephine Porter Crane ('' née'' Josephine Porter Boardman) (November 14, 1873 – July 8, 1972) was an American socialite and patron of the arts, co-founder and original trustee of the Museum of Modern Art and supporter of the Dalton School of N ...
. She was 20 years his junior and from a politically connected family. They had three children:
* Stephen
* Bruce Crane
Robert Bruce Crane (1857 – October 30, 1937) was an American painter. He joined the Lyme Art Colony in the early 1900s. His most active period, though, came after 1920, when for more than a decade he did oil sketches of woods, meadows, ...
(b. 1909), who later served as president of Crane & Co. and a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council
* Louise Crane
Louise or Luise may refer to:
* Louise (given name)
Arts Songs
* "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005
* "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984
* "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013
* "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929
*"Louise", by Clan of ...
(b. 1913), poet, publisher, and philanthropist
Crane died at his home in Dalton on October 2, 1920.
Notes
References
*
* (five volume history of Massachusetts until the early 20th century)
''New England Historical and Genealogical Register''
(biographic sketch by John L. Bates)
External links
Massachusetts Historical Society Biography and Photograph Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crane, Winthrop Murray
Lieutenant Governors of Massachusetts
Republican Party governors of Massachusetts
Papermakers
1853 births
1920 deaths
Republican Party United States senators from Massachusetts
People from Dalton, Massachusetts
Burials at Main Street Cemetery (Dalton, Massachusetts)
Junior Achievement
Crane family