Ira G. Hersey

Ira Greenlief Hersey (March 31, 1858 – May 6, 1943) was a politician from Hodgdon, Maine, who served in the Maine House of Representatives, the Maine State Senate, and most notably in the United States Congress as a Representative for the U.S. State of Maine.

Ira Greenlief Hersey
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine's 4th district
In office March 4, 1917 – March 3, 1929
Preceded by	Frank E. Guernsey
Succeeded by	Donald F. Snow
President of the Maine Senate
In office 1915–1916
Member of the Maine Senate
In office 1913–1916
Member of the Maine House of Representatives
In office 1909-1912
Personal details
Born	March 31, 1858 Hodgdon, Maine
Died	May 6, 1943 (aged 85) Washington, D.C.
Political party	Republican

Biography

Hersey was born on March 31, 1858 in Hodgdon, Maine. He attended the public schools and Ricker Classical Institute. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1880 and commenced practice in Houlton.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Maine in 1886. He was elected a member of the Maine House of Representatives from 1909 to 1912. He served in the Maine Senate from 1913 to 1916 and was president of that body in 1915 and 1916. He was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-fifth and to the five succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1917 to March 3, 1929. He was chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings in the Sixty-sixth Congress, and was one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1926 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against George W. English, judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1928 to the Seventy-first Congress.

He became judge of probate for Aroostook County, Maine, serving from 1934 until 1942, when he retired and moved to Washington, D.C.. He died on May 6, 1943 in Washington and he was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Houlton, Maine.

Congressional career

Hersey supported the Immigration Act of 1924, saying during a speech in the House of Representatives the United States was "a mighty land settled by Northern Europeans from the United Kingdom, the Norsemen, and the Saxon."[1]

References

1. Ringer, Benjamin B. We the People and Others: Duality and America's Treatment of Its Racial Minorities (New York: Routledge, 1983) p. 801-802.

• United States Congress. "Ira G. Hersey (id: H000544)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

• United States Congress. "Ira G. Hersey (id: G000517)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.