Albert E. Mead

Albert Edward Mead
Mead c. 1905
5th Governor of Washington
In office January 11, 1905 – January 27, 1909
Lieutenant	Charles E. Coon
Preceded by	Henry McBride
Succeeded by	Samuel G. Cosgrove
Member of the Washington House of Representatives from the 48th district
In office January 9, 1893 – January 14, 1895
Preceded by	A. W. Tiffany
Succeeded by	R. J. Glen
Personal details
Born	Albert Edward Mead (1861-12-14)December 14, 1861 Manhattan, Kansas, U.S.
Died	March 19, 1913(1913-03-19) (aged 51) Bellingham, Washington, U.S.
Party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Lizzie Brown ​ ​ (m. 1887; died 1898)​ Mina Jane Hosmer Pifer ​ ​ (m. 1899)​

Albert Edward Mead (December 14, 1861 – March 19, 1913) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the fifth governor of Washington from 1905 to 1909.

Biography

Mead was born in Kansas on December 14, 1861. There is conflicting information about his town of birth: most reliable sources say it was Manhattan, Kansas, but there is one claim he was born in Ashland, Kansas. He received his formal education at Southern Illinois Normal University and at Northwestern University's Union College of Law in Chicago.

Career

After graduating from law school in 1885, Mead returned to Kansas to practice law for four years. He married Elizabeth "Lizzy" Pauline Brown and they had one daughter, Mary; and three sons, Wendell, Roland, and William. In 1889, he moved to Washington Territory. Mead served as Mayor of Blaine, Washington (1892), as a member of the Washington State House of Representatives (1892), and as prosecuting attorney for Whatcom County, Washington, from 1898 to 1903. His wife, "Lizzy", died in 1898, and on May 5, 1899, he married Mina Jane Hosmer Pifer, and they had one son, Albert Vincent.

Mead (on porch) with Wendell, Roland, and William in yard, at Percival House, Olympia Wash, circa 1906.

Mead's election to the governor's office in 1904 over U.S. senator George Turner was considered a significant upset at the time. During his tenure, he supported legislation establishing a Railroad Commission, and acts establishing a State Bank Examiner, a State Tax Commission, and a State Highway Commission.

After his term as governor ended, Mead moved to Bellingham, Washington, where he returned to private practice as a lawyer and served as president of the Chamber of Commerce.

He ran again for Governor and lost in 1912 after changing to the Progressive Party and riding the coattails of Theodore Roosevelt.

Death

Mead died in Bellingham on March 19, 1913, and is interred at Bayview Cemetery.

Further reading

• Meany, Edmond S. Governors of Washington: Territorial and State. University of Washington (1915). Originally published as a series of brief biographical articles in the weekday issues of the Post-Intelligencer from September 27 to October 22, 1915.

External links

• National Governors Association
• Albert E. Mead at Find a Grave
• Washington Secretary of State. Archived December 8, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
• Photo of his wife in 1905