Walter K. Farnsworth

Walter K. Farnsworth

Farnsworth as Secretary of the Vermont Senate, 1903
54th Lieutenant Governor of Vermont
In office
January 8, 1925 – January 6, 1927
Governor Franklin S. Billings
Preceded by Franklin S. Billings
Succeeded by Hollister Jackson
Personal details
Born (1870-11-17)November 17, 1870
Windsor, Vermont
Died August 2, 1929(1929-08-02) (aged 58)
Rutland (city), Vermont
Profession Politician
Attorney
Horse breeder
Judge
Religion Congregationalist

Walter Kellogg Farnsworth (November 17, 1870 – August 2, 1929) was a Vermont attorney and politician who served as Lieutenant Governor.

Life and career

Farnsworth was born in Windsor, Vermont on November 17, 1870. He attended high school in Chester and Woodstock, and then studied law. He attained attained admission to the bar and established a practice in Rutland. Farnsworth was also a horse breeder and an active member of the Rutland County Agricultural Society.[1][2][3]

A Republican, Farnsworth began his involvement in politics and government by serving as a Justice of the Peace and as Assistant Secretary and Secretary of the Vermont Senate in the late 1890s and early 1900s.[4][5]

Farnsworth was Judge of the Rutland City Court from 1907 to 1909. In 1908 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for Secretary of State.[6][7]

In 1912 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for a seat in the United States House of Representatives.[8] Farnsworth also became involved with the Progressive Party, but later returned to the Republican fold.[9]

In 1918 he ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for Vermont Secretary of State.[10][11]

Farnsworth subsequently moved to Burlington.[12] He was elected to the Vermont Senate in 1922 and served one term, also serving as Senate President.[13][14]

In 1924 Farnsworth won election as Lieutenant Governor, and served one term, 1925 to 1927.[15][16]

Farnsworth ran unsuccessfully for Governor in 1926, losing the Republican primary to John E. Weeks.[17][18][19]

Farnsworth died in Rutland on August 2, 1929.[20] He was interred at Ascutney Cemetery in Windsor, Vermont.[21]

Personal

Farnsworth's nephew Arthur Austin Farnsworth (1908-1943) was the second husband of actress Bette Davis.[22][23][24]

Sources

  1. ↑ Manual of the Legislature of Vermont, published by Vermont General Assembly, 1904, page 88
  2. ↑ Who's Who in New England, published by A. N. Marquis, Chicago, Volume 1, page 351
  3. ↑ Newspaper article, Horse Shows to Aid Trotting Meetings, New York Times, November 12, 1908
  4. ↑ Journal of the Senate of the State of Vermont, published by Vermont General Assembly, 1899, page 6
  5. ↑ List of Secretaries of the Senate, published by Vermont Secretary of State, 2011
  6. ↑ The University of Vermont: The First Two Hundred Years, by Robert Vincent Daniels, 1991, page 209
  7. ↑ Encyclopedia of Vermont Biography, compiled by Prentiss Cutler Dodge, 1912, pages 185 to 186
  8. ↑ Vermont: The Green Mountain State, by Walter Hill Crockett, Volume 4, 1921, page 430
  9. ↑ Newspaper article, Third Ticket in Vermont, New York Times, July 24, 1912
  10. ↑ 1918 Primary Election Results, Office of the Vermont Secretary of State, Vermont State Archives, June 9, 2006, page 1
  11. ↑ Newspaper article, Clement Wins in Vermont Primaries, Boston Globe, September 11, 1918
  12. ↑ Vermont Year Book, Formerly Walton's Register, published by E. P. & G. S. Walton, Montpelier, 1925, page 371
  13. ↑ Vermont Legislative Directory, published by Vermont General Assembly, 1923, page 408
  14. ↑ List of Senate Presidents Pro Tempore, Office of the Vermont Secretary of State, Vermont State Archives, updated June 28, 2011, accessed December 26, 2011
  15. ↑ 1924 Primary Election Results, Office of the Vermont Secretary of State, Vermont State Archives, June 9, 2006, page 1
  16. ↑ List of Lieutenant Governors, published by Office of the Vermont Secretary of State, Vermont State Archives, as of January, 2011
  17. ↑ 1926 Primary Election Results, Office of the Vermont Secretary of State Vermont State Archives, June 9, 2006, page 1
  18. ↑ The History of Woodstock, Vermont, 1890-1983, by Peter S. Jennison, 1985, page 103
  19. ↑ Newspaper article, Official Vermont Vote Tabulated, by Associated Press, Bridgeport Telegram, September 22, 1926
  20. ↑ Vermont Death Records, 1909-2008, Record for Walter Kellogg Farnsworth, accessed December 26, 2011
  21. ↑ Walter K. Farnsworth at Find a Grave
  22. ↑ The Girl Who Walked Home Alone: Bette Davis, A Personal Biography, by Charlotte Chandler, page 143 to 144
  23. ↑ Newspaper article, Farnsworth Funeral Here, Rutland Herald, August 27, 1943
  24. ↑ Farnsworth Memorial, by Moses Franklin Farnsworth and Robert Glen Nye, 2nd Edition, 1974, page 381
Political offices
Preceded by
Harvey R. Kingsley		 President pro tempore of the Vermont State Senate
1923 – 1925 		Succeeded by
Edward H. Edgerton
Preceded by
Franklin S. Billings		 Lieutenant Governor of Vermont
1925–1927 		Succeeded by
Hollister Jackson
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