William P. Frye
William Pierce Frye | |
---|---|
Nelson Dingley, Jr. | |
Maine Attorney General | |
In office 1867–1871 | |
Governor | Joshua Chamberlain |
Preceded by | John A. Peters |
Succeeded by | Thomas Brackett Reed |
Member of the Maine House of Representatives | |
In office 1861–1862, 1867 | |
Personal details | |
Born | September 2, 1830 LL.D.) |
Occupation |
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Signature | |
William Pierce Frye (September 2, 1830 – August 8, 1911) was an
Fry was a leader of the "Old Guard" faction of conservative Republicans, exerting his weight on such important committees as Rules, Foreign Relations, Appropriations, and Commerce. He was best known for supporting the shipping industry, but repeatedly failed to obtain government subsidies. He also supported high tariffs, expansion that sought additional territory and the canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific. He favored the annexation of Hawaii and the acquisition of the Philippine Islands in 1898. President William McKinley appointed him to the peace commission that negotiated the end of the Spanish-American war.[1][2]
Biography
Frye was born in
Frye was a presidential elector in 1864.[3]
Frye served in the Maine House of Representatives from 1861 to 1862 and again in 1867. He was later elected as the mayor of Lewiston, holding that position from 1866 to 1867, when he became the state attorney general. Frye left the attorney general post in 1869. He was elected as a Republican in 1870 to the U.S. House of Representatives. Frye served in the 42nd Congress and the five succeeding Congresses from March 4, 1871, to March 17, 1881, when he resigned after being elected Senator to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James G. Blaine. He served over 30 years in the Senate (March 18, 1881 – August 8, 1911), and was reelected in 1883, 1889, 1895, 1901, and 1907.[2]
During his tenure in the Senate, Frye served as its
Frye was also the chairman of the
Senator Frye was a charter member of the District of Columbia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution when it was founded in 1890.
Frye died in Lewiston in 1911. He is interred in the Riverside Cemetery. The Sen. William P. Frye House near Bates College in Lewiston is on the National Historic Register.
See also
- List of United States Congress members who died in office (1900–49)
- William P. Frye (1901) a ship named after him
Notes
- ^ Lewis L. Gould, "Frye, William Pierce" American National Biography (1999)
- ^ a b "S. Doc. 58-1 - Fifty-eighth Congress. (Extraordinary session -- beginning November 9, 1903.) Official Congressional Directory for the use of the United States Congress. Compiled under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing by A.J. Halford. Special edition. Corrections made to November 5, 1903". GovInfo.gov. U.S. Government Printing Office. November 9, 1903. p. 43. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ^ The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. I. New York, N.Y.: James T. White & Company. 1898. pp. 290–291 – via Google Books.
Further reading
- United States Congress. "William P. Frye (id: F000398)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Banks, Ronald F. "The senatorial career of William P. Frye." (PhD dissertation, University of Maine at Orono, 1958).
- Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "Frye, William Pierce (1830–1911)." The Political Graveyard. [1]
- William P. Frye, late a senator from Maine, Memorial addresses delivered in the House of Representatives and Senate frontispiece 1913