Walter K. Farnsworth Explained

Walter K. Farnsworth
Order1:55th
Office1:Lieutenant Governor of Vermont
Term Start1:January 8, 1925
Term End1:January 6, 1927
Governor1:Franklin S. Billings
Predecessor1:Franklin S. Billings
Successor1:Hollister Jackson
Office2:President pro tempore of the Vermont Senate
Term Start2:1923
Term End2:1925
Predecessor2:Harvey R. Kingsley
Successor2:Edward H. Edgerton
Office3:Member of the Vermont Senate from Chittenden County, Vermont
Term Start3:1923
Term End3:1925
Alongside3:Irving Smith Coburn (died January 20, 1923), Frank S. Ransom (appointed January 24, 1923), Harry M. Fay, William B. McKillip, Martin S. Vilas
Predecessor3:Irving Smith Coburn, William B. McKillip, Martin S. Vilas, Moses Sheldon
Successor3:Malcolm D. Dimick, Dan Marshall Johnson, Levi P. Smith, Martin S. Vilas
Birth Date:November 17, 1870
Birth Place:Windsor, Vermont
Death Place:Rutland, Vermont
Restingplace:Ascutney Cemetery, Windsor, Vermont
Profession:Attorney

Walter Kellogg Farnsworth (November 17, 1870 – August 2, 1929) was a Vermont attorney and politician who served as the 55th lieutenant governor of Vermont.

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 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.

Family

Farnsworth was the son of attorney Jonathan Brewer Farnsworth and Maria Augusta (Hatch) Farnsworth.[21] Farnsworth's siblings included brothers George Henry (b. 1860), James Slayton (b. 1866), and Arthur White (b. 1872). Farnsworth never married, and had no children.[22]

Notes and References

  1. https://books.google.com/books?id=rc-iAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22walter+kellogg+farnsworth%22+vermont&pg=PA88 Manual of the Legislature of Vermont
  2. https://books.google.com/books?id=TaITAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22farnsworth%2C+walter+kellogg%22+vermont&pg=PA351 Who's Who in New England
  3. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1908/11/12/104768528.pdf Newspaper article, Horse Shows to Aid Trotting Meetings
  4. https://books.google.com/books?id=-mdHAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22walter+k+farnsworth%22+vermont&pg=PA6 Journal of the Senate of the State of Vermont
  5. http://www.leg.state.vt.us/HouseClerk/History%20of%20Elected%20Officials%20Site/Senate%20Secretaries.htm List of Secretaries of the Senate
  6. The University of Vermont: The First Two Hundred Years, by Robert Vincent Daniels, 1991, p. 209
  7. https://books.google.com/books?id=tt2_3hTQxFMC&dq=%22farnsworth%2C+walter+kellogg%22+vermont&pg=PA185 Encyclopedia of Vermont Biography
  8. https://archive.org/details/vermontgreenmou00crocgoog/page/n554 Vermont: The Green Mountain State
  9. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1912/07/24/100543551.pdf Newspaper article, Third Ticket in Vermont
  10. http://vermont-archives.org/govhistory/elect/primary/pdf/p1918.pdf 1918 Primary Election Results
  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, p. 371
  13. Vermont Legislative Directory, published by Vermont General Assembly, 1923, p. 408
  14. http://vermont-archives.org/govhistory/officials/legislative/senateprolist.htm List of Senate Presidents Pro Tempore
  15. http://vermont-archives.org/govhistory/elect/primary/pdf/p1924.pdf 1924 Primary Election Results
  16. http://www.leg.state.vt.us/HouseClerk/History%20of%20Elected%20Officials%20Site/Lieutenant%20Governors%20List.htm List of Lieutenant Governors
  17. http://vermont-archives.org/govhistory/elect/primary/pdf/p1926.pdf 1926 Primary Election Results
  18. The History of Woodstock, Vermont, 1890–1983, by Peter S. Jennison, 1985, p. 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. Book: Cutter, William Richard . 1913 . New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial . II . New York, NY . Lewis Historical Publishing Company . 770–771 . .
  22. News: August 3, 1929 . Former Lieut.-Gov. Farnsworth Dies . Burlington Free Press . Burlington, VT . 3 . subscription . Newspapers.com.