Gaspar G. Bacon

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Gaspar Griswold Bacon Sr.

| image = Gaspar Griswold Bacon, Sr in his passport application.jpg

| caption = Bacon, c. 1920

| order = 51st

| office = Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts

| term_start = 1933

| term_end = 1935

| governor = Joseph B. Ely

| predecessor = William S. Youngman

| successor = Joseph L. Hurley

| office2 = President of the Massachusetts Senate

| predecessor2 = Wellington Wells

| successor2 = Erland F. Fish

| term_start2 = 1929

| term_end2 = 1932

| office3 = Member of the
Massachusetts Senate
from the 6th Suffolk district

| predecessor3 =

| successor3 =

| term_start3 = 1925

| term_end3 = 1932

| birth_date = March 7, 1886

| birth_place = Jamaica Plain, Boston, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1947|12|25|1886|3|7}}

| death_place = Dedham, Massachusetts, U.S.

| party = Republican

| profession = Lawyer

| spouse = {{marriage|Priscilla Toland|July 16, 1910}}

| parents = Robert Bacon

| children = Gaspar G. Bacon Jr.

| relatives = Robert Low Bacon, brother

| residence = 222 Prince Street, Boston (Jamaica Plain), Massachusetts

| footnotes = {{Citation| last=Howard | first=Richard T. | title = Public Officials of Massachusetts (1933–1934) | page =22 | publisher = The Boston Review| location = Boston, MA | year = 1933}}

}}

Gaspar Griswold Bacon Sr. (March 7, 1886 – December 25, 1947) was an American politician who served as the president of the Massachusetts Senate{{Citation| last=Howard | first=Richard T. | title = Public Officials of Massachusetts (1931–1932) | page =38 | publisher = The Boston Review| location = Boston, MA | year = 1931}} from 1929 to 1932{{Citation| last=Howard | first=Richard T. | title = Public Officials of Massachusetts (1933–1934) | page =23 | publisher = The Boston Review| location = Boston, MA | year = 1933}} and as the 51st lieutenant governor of Massachusetts from 1933 to 1935.

Biography

Bacon was born in Jamaica Plain, Boston, on March 7, 1886, to Robert Bacon. Bacon had a brother, Robert L. Bacon.{{cite journal |jstor=25080427 |title=Gaspar Griswold Bacon | author =Parkman Dexter Howe | author-link =Parkman Dexter Howe | journal =Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society |series=Third Series| volume = 69|year=1947 |pages=426–428 }}

Bacon received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College in 1908; he then went on to earn his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1912.{{cite web|url=http://www.jphs.org/people/2005/4/14/gaspar-griswold-bacon.html|title=Jamaica Plain Historical Society – 'People' Editor – – Gaspar Griswold Bacon|date=14 April 2005 }}

In 1912, Bacon actively campaigned for Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Party. He was involved in the founding of the Military School at Harvard College in 1919. He was also a lecturer on the staff of Boston University in the late 1920s. He also served on the board of overseers of Harvard University.

In 1920, he was a supporter of Leonard Wood's campaign for the Republican nomination for president and was a delegate to the Republican National Convention that year. Bacon served in the Massachusetts State Senate in from 1925 to 1932.Marquis Who's Who, Inc. Who Was Who in American History, the Military. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1975. P. 22 {{ISBN|0837932017}} {{OCLC|657162692}} From 1933 to 1934, he was Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts.

In 1934, Bacon was the Republican nominee for Massachusetts Governor. An opponent of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, Bacon was defeated by Boston Mayor James Michael Curley.

Bacon was in American forces sent to Mexico under General Pershing in 1916. Bacon was in the Field Artillery Officers' Reserve Corps, where he served as a captain and major during World War I.

During World War II, Bacon was a lieutenant colonel on General George Patton's staff, where he served for three years and ten months, in the G5, as the chief of the Government Affairs Branch.{{citation | title =The Germans in This City Look Pretty Peaked to Me| last=Lyons|first =Louis M.| url = http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/obituary.aspx?pid=170040141 | location = Boston, Massachusetts|publisher = The Boston Globe | date = June 11, 1945 |access-date =October 19, 2015}}

Bacon died on Christmas Day, December 25, 1947, in Dedham, Massachusetts. His funeral was held at St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church.{{cite news |agency=United Press |title=Gaspar G. Bacon Funeral. Massachusetts Officials and Educators Attend Service |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/12/28/archives/gaspar-g-bacon-funeral-massachusetts-officials-and-educators-attend.html |newspaper=New York Times |date=December 28, 1947 }} He was buried in Walnut Hills Cemetery

in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Awards

Croix de Guerre
Legion of Honor

Family life

Bacon married Priscilla Toland on July 16, 1910, in St. Thomas' Church in Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania.{{cite news|last1=Lichtblau|first1=Eric|title=Gaspar Bacon Weds. Ambassador's Son Married to Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E.D. Toland.|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/07/17/118496296.pdf|page= 9|access-date=October 19, 2015|work=The New York Times|date=July 17, 1910}} Bacon and his wife were the parents of three sons. One of Bacon's sons was the actor Gaspar G. Bacon Jr., better known as David Bacon.{{cite news |title=Gaspar Bacon Jr. Will Lead the Cast of the Hasty Pudding Club in Philadelphia |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/02/28/archives/harvard-players-to-appear-april-7-gaspar-bacon-jr-will-lead-the.html |newspaper=New York Times |date=February 28, 1937 }}{{cite news |title=D.G. Bacon Is Slain As In Movie Roles. Identity Of The Killer, Reported With Him In Car, And Motive Mystify Los Angeles Police |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1943/09/14/archives/dg-bacon-is-slain-as-in-movie-roles-identity-of-the-killer-reported.html |newspaper=New York Times |date=September 14, 1943 }}

Publications

Bacon, Gaspar G. The Constitution of the United States in Some of Its Fundamental Aspects. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1928. {{OCLC|1201082}}
Bacon, Gaspar G. The Founding of the Town of Barnstable, Commonwealth of Massachusetts: 1639–1939, Tercentenary Address. Barnstable, MA: [publisher not identified], 1939. {{OCLC|828629383}}
Bacon, Gaspar G. Political Parties in the United States: Empty Bottles or Flowing Streams. Boston, Mass. : [publisher not identified], 1940. {{OCLC|958275937}}
Bacon, Gaspar G., and Wendell Dearborn Howie. One by One. Cambridge, Massachusetts: [Harvard University Print. Office], 1943. {{OCLC|1446768}}