Frederick Mansfield

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Frederick Mansfield

| image = Frederick William Mansfield (2).png

| caption = Mansfield, circa 1917

| term_start = January 1, 1934{{cite news |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/847829536 |title=MANSFIELD TO TAKE OATH THIS MORNING |newspaper=The Boston Globe |page=20 |date=January 1, 1934 |access-date=March 16, 2018 |url-access=limited |via=pqarchiver.com }}

| term_end = January 3, 1938{{cite news |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/817051647 |title=Tobin Becomes Mayor Today, Notables to Attend Ceremony |newspaper=The Boston Globe |page=1 |date=January 3, 1938 |access-date=March 16, 2018 |url-access=limited |via=pqarchiver.com}}

| predecessor = James Michael Curley

| successor = Maurice J. Tobin

| order2 = 38th

| office2 = Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts

| term_start2 = 1914

| term_end2 = 1915

| governor2 = David I. Walsh

| majority2 = 17,002{{Citation |last = Hennessy | first =Michael Edmund | title = Twenty-five Years of Massachusetts Politics: from Russell to McCall, 1890-1915 | page = 349| publisher = Practical Politics | location = Boston, Ma| year = 1917}}

| predecessor2 = Elmer A. Stevens

| successor2 = Charles L. Burrill

| birth_name = Frederick William Mansfield

| birth_date = March 26, 1877{{Citation |last = Marquis | first = Albert Nelson | title = Who's who in New England | page = 718| publisher = University Press of New England | location = Chicago, IL | year = 1915}}

| birth_place = East Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.

| death_date = {{dda|1958|11|6|1877|3|26}}{{Citation |last = Beaver Valley Times| title = Last of City Political Bosses Dies | date = November 12, 1958|page = 2| publisher = The Beaver Valley Times | location = Beaver, PA }}{{Citation |last = New York Times| title = F. W. MANSFIELD, CURLEY FOE, DIES; Ex-Mayor of Boston Served 1933-37--Lawyer Aided Catholic Archdiocese | date = November 7, 1958|page = 28| work = The New York Times | location = New York, NY }}

| resting_place= Holyhood Cemetery in Brookline, Massachusetts

| death_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.

| party = Democrat

| spouse = Helen Elizabeth Roe (June 29, 1904)

| relations =

| children = Walter R. Mansfield

| alma_mater = Boston University School of Law

| branch = United States Navy

| serviceyears = 1898

| unit = USS Vulcan

| battles = Spanish–American War

}}

Frederick William Mansfield (March 26, 1877 – November 6, 1958) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Boston, Massachusetts.

Early life

Mansfield was born in East Boston, Massachusetts, March 26, 1877. Mansfield was the son of Michael Read Mansfield and Catherine (McDonough) Mansfield, both of whom had immigrated from Ireland.{{Cite web |title=Mansfield, Frederick W., 1877-1968 {{!}} ArchivesSpace Public Interface |url=https://archives.boston.gov/agents/people/121 |access-date=2024-03-17 |website=archives.boston.gov}}

Mansfield graduated from East Boston High School in 1894 and went on to Boston University School of Law, where he received a L.L.B. degree in 1902.

Mansfield served as an apothecary in the U.S. Navy on the USS Vulcan during the Spanish–American War. After working as a pharmacist, Mansfield was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1902. From 1928 to 1931 he was president of the Massachusetts Bar Association.{{cite news |title=Says Autoists May Lose Trials by Jury |work=The Boston Globe |date=November 23, 1928}}{{cite news |title=State Bar Elects Wier as President |work=The Boston Globe |date=December 20, 1931}}

Early political career

In 1913, Mansfield was elected treasurer and receiver general of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts serving from 1914 to 1915. In 1914, he lost his bid for re-election to Charles L. Burrill.{{Citation |last = Coolidge | first = Henry D. | title = A Manual for the Use of the General Court | page = 426| publisher = Massachusetts General Court | location = Boston, MA | year = 1915}} He was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in 1916 and 1917.{{cite web |url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=104119 |title=Mansfield, Frederick W. |website=ourcampaigns.com |date=March 16, 2018}}

Mayoralty

Mansfield ran for Mayor of Boston twice. He finished second to his bitter rival James Michael Curley in November 1929, then topped a field of six candidates in November 1933.

He served as mayor from 1934 to 1938, during which he modernized the city's auditing and accounting systems while reducing the city's debt. Despite this, he was unsuccessful in his attempts to centralize the city's many departments. He took advantage of the Works Progress Administration to build the Huntington Avenue subway, a $1.715 million project the city only had to pay $539,227 for.{{Cite news |date=1936-10-16 |title=Article clipped from The Boston Globe |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe/54922966/ |access-date=2024-03-17 |work=The Boston Globe |pages=1}} He promoted the sales tax and favored low-income housing, as opposed to substandard housing.{{Cite web |title=Collection: Mayor Frederick W. Mansfield collection {{!}} ArchivesSpace Public Interface |url=https://archives.boston.gov/repositories/2/resources/42 |access-date=2024-03-17 |website=archives.boston.gov}}

He was not eligible to run for re-election, as Massachusetts law at the time did not allow the Mayor of Boston to serve consecutive terms.{{cite news |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/503359225 |title=REPORT BILL TO STOP CONSECUTIVE TERMS |newspaper=The Boston Globe |page=6 |date=February 26, 1918 |access-date=March 12, 2018 |url-access=limited |via=pqarchiver.com}}

Personal life

Mansfield married Helen Elizabeth Roe on June 29, 1904. Mansfield's son, Walter Roe Mansfield,{{Citation |last = Hevesi| first= Dennis | title = William R. Mansfield, Federal Judge is Dead at 75 | date = January 8, 1987| publisher = The New York Times. | location = New York, NY }} was born on July 1, 1911.Walter R. Mansfield, at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges (accessed January 22, 2009).