Sumner Sewall

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Sumner Sewall
58th Governor of Maine
In office
January 1, 1941 – January 3, 1945
Preceded byLewis O. Barrows
Succeeded byHorace Hildreth
Member of the Maine Senate
In office
1936-1940
Member of the Maine House of Representatives
In office
1934-1936
Personal details
Born(1897-06-17)June 17, 1897
Air Service, United States Army
Years of service1917-1919
RankCaptain
Unit95th Aero Squadron
Battles/warsWorld War I

Sumner Sewall (June 17, 1897 – January 25, 1965) was an American

58th Governor of Maine from 1941 to 1945. He began his aviation career during World War I as a fighter ace
.

Life and career

A native of

U.S. Army Air Service
, becoming an ace by scoring seven victories.

He enlisted in the USAAS in Paris, underwent training, and reported to the

Flight Commander, and went on to score five victories over enemy planes between 3 June and 18 September 1918, sharing a couple of them with future general James Knowles and Edward Peck Curtis. Sewall then became a balloon buster, shooting down an observation balloon each on 4 and 5 November. The only victory he did not receive credit for came when German pilot Leutnant Heinz Freiherr von Beaulieu-Marconnay mistakenly landed on the 95th Aero Squadron's airfield, and Sewall and a couple of other American pilots captured him at gunpoint.[1]

Sewall returned home with the

After the war, he worked in a variety of jobs, including being an executive with

United Air Lines
.

His political career began when he became an

President of the State Senate. In 1940, he was elected governor, and served two terms. Sewall's administration was notable for cleaning up scandals in state government and passing a minimum wage law
for state teachers.

After stepping down as governor, Sewall became president of American Overseas Airlines for a year, then served as the military governor of Württemberg-Baden from 1946 to 1947. In 1948, Sewall finished a distant third in the Republican primary for Maine's open United States Senate seat, which ended his political career.

Sewall became president of the Bath National Bank in the 1960s. He died on 25 January 1965.

Family

Sewall's parents were William Dunning Sewall and Mary Locke Sumner of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. Mary was the daughter of George Sumner and Sarah E. Richardson, and she was great-granddaughter of the Reverend Joseph Sumner of the First Congregational Church in Shrewsbury. William D. Sewall and Mary Locke Sumner lived at the Sewall Family Home in Bath, ME known as York Hall.

Sewall's grandfather, Arthur Sewall, was the Democratic candidate for vice president in 1896.

Sewall married Helen Ellena Evans in 1929. They had two sons, David and Nick, and a daughter Alexandria.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b American Aces of World War I. p. 68–69.

Bibliography

External links

Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for Governor of Maine
1940, 1942
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of Maine
1941–1945
Succeeded by
Horace A. Hildreth