1947–1948 Massachusetts legislature

The 155th Massachusetts General Court, consisting of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives, met from January 1, 1947, to June 18, 1948, during the governorship of Robert F. Bradford, in Boston.

155th Massachusetts General Court
← 154th 156th →
Overview
Legislative body	General Court
Election	November 5, 1946
Senate
Members	40
President	Donald W. Nicholson, Harris S. Richardson
Party control	Republican[1]
House
Members	240
Speaker	Frederick Willis (10th Essex)
Party control	Republican[2]
Sessions
1st January 1, 1947 – July 1, 1947 2nd January 7, 1948 – June 19, 1948[3]

State Senate

Districts

As established by Chapter 507 of the Acts of 1939. The state census of 1935 was the basis of the apportionment.

• Berkshire District: Adams, Becket, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Dalton, Florida, Hancock, Hinsdale, Lanesborough, Lenox, New Ashford, North Adams, Peru, Pittsfield, Richmond, Savoy, Stockbridge, Washington, West Stockbridge, Williamstown, Windsor
• First Bristol District: Acushnet, Attleboro, Berkley, Dighton, Easton, Freetown, Mansfield, North Attleboro, Norton, Plainville, Raynham, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Swansea, Taunton
• Second Bristol District: Fall River, Somerset
• Third Bristol District: Dartmouth, Fairhaven, New Bedford, Westport
• Cape and Plymouth District: Barnstable, Bourne, Brewster, Carver, Chatham, Chilmark, Dennis, Duxbury, Eastham, Edgartown, Falmouth, Gay Head, Gosnold, Halifax, Hanson, Harwich, Kingston, Marion, Mashpee, Mattapoisett, Nantucket, Oak Bluffs, Orleans, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Provincetown, Rochester, Sandwich, Tisbury, Truro, Wareham, Wellfleet, West Tisbury, Whitman, Yarmouth
• First Essex District: Lynn, Nahant, Swampscott
• Second Essex District: Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Salem
• Third Essex District: Essex, Gloucester, Hamilton, Ipswich, Lynnfield, Manchester, Middleton, Newbury, Newburyport, Peabody, Rockport, Rowley, Saugus, Topsfield, Wenham
• Fourth Essex District: Amesbury, Andover, Boxford, Georgetown, Groveland, Haverhill, Merrimac, North Andover, North Reading, Salisbury, West Newbury
• Fifth Essex District: Lawrence, Methuen
• Franklin and Hampshire District: Amherst, Ashfield, Bernardston, Belchertown, Buckland, Charlemont, Chesterfield, Colrain, Conway, Cummington, Deerfield, Easthampton, Enfield*, Erving, Gill, Goshen, Granby, Greenfield, Greenwich*, Hadley, Hatfield, Hawley, Heath, Huntington, Leverett, Leyden, Ludlow, Middlefield, Monroe, Montague, New Salem, Northfield, Orange, Pelham, Prescott*, Rowe, Shelburne, Shutesbury, South Hadley, Sunderland, Ware, Warwick, Wendell, Whately, Williamsburg, Worthington
• First Hampden District: Longmedaow, Springfield Wards 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
• Second Hampden District: Chicopee, Holyoke, Springfield Ward 1
• Hampden, Hampshire and Berkshire District: Agawam, Alford, Blandford, Chester, Egremont, Granville, Great Barrington, Lee, Monterey, Montgomery, Mount Washington, New Marlborough, Otis, Russell, Sandisfield, Sheffield, Southwick, Springfield Ward 3, Tollan, Tyringham, Westfield, West Springfield
• First Middlesex District: Ashby, Ayer, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Dracut, Dunstable, Groton, Littleton Wards 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, Lowell Ward 11, Pepperell, Shirley, Townsend, Tyngsborough, Westford
• Second Middlesex District: Belmont, Cambridge Wards 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, Somerville Wards 6, 7
• Third Middlesex District: Cambridge Ward 3, Malden Ward 3, Medford Wards 1, 5, 7, Somerville Wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

(*)Terminated. See Acts of 1927, chapter 321; Acts of 1938, chapter 240 and 455.

Senators

District		Senator	Party	Hometown	Notes
Berkshire		Michael H. Condron	Democratic	Pittsfield
Bristol	First	Willard A. Ormsbee	Republican	Raynham	Chairman, Aeronautics; Chairman, Mercantile Affairs
	Second	William E. White	Democratic	Fall River
	Third	Edward C. Peirce	Democratic	New Bedford
Cape and Plymouth		Donald W. Nicholson	Republican	Wareham	President of the Senate; Chairman, Rules
Essex	First	Charles V. Hogan	Democratic	Lynn
	Second	J. Elmer Callahan	Republican	Salem	Chairman, Constitutional Law
	Third	Cornelius F. Haley	Republican	Rowley	Chairman, State Administration
	Fourth	Philip K. Allen	Republican	Andover	Chairman, Agriculture
	Fifth	Michael A. Flanagan	Democratic	Lawrence
Franklin and Hampshire		Ralph C. Mahar	Republican	Orange	Chairman, Education; Chairman, Public Health
Hampden	First	Ralph V. Clampit	Republican	Springfield	Chairman, Military Affairs and Public Safety
	Second	William E. Nolen	Democratic	Holyoke
Hampden, Hampshire and Berkshire		Ralph Lurche	Republican	Northampton	Chairman, Cities; Chairman, Water Supply
Middlesex	First	William C. Geary	Democratic	Lowell
	Second	Edward M. Rowe	Republican	Cambridge	Chairman, Legal Affairs; Chairman, Taxation
	Third	Burton F. Faulkner	Democratic	Somerville
	Fourth	Sumner G. Whittier	Republican	Everett	Chairman, Civil Service; Chairman, Departmental Rules and Regulations
	Fifth	Richard I. Furbush	Republican	Waltham	Chairman, Conservation; Chairman, Power and Light
	Sixth	Harris S. Richardson	Republican	Winchester	Chairman, Ways and Means
	Seventh	George J. Evans	Republican	Wakefield	Chairman, Labor and Industries; Chairman, Pensions
Middlesex and Norfolk		Charles W. Olson	Republican	Ashland	Chairman, Public Lands; Chairman, Public Welfare
Middlesex and Suffolk		Richard H. Lee	Republican	Newton	Chairman, Public Service
Norfolk	First	John D. Mackay	Republican	Quincy	Chairman, Judiciary
	Second	Mason Sears	Republican	Dedham	Chairman, Election Laws
Norfolk and Plymouth		Newland H. Holmes	Republican	Weymouth	Chairman, Bills in the Third Reading; Chairman, Counties
Norfolk and Suffolk		Philip G. Bowker	Republican	Brookline	Chairman, Metropolitan Affairs
Plymouth		Charles G. Miles	Republican	Brockton	Chairman, Engrossed Bills; Chairman, Municipal Finance
Suffolk	First	Joseph A. Melley	Democratic	Chelsea
	Second	Michael Lopresti	Democratic	Boston
	Third	Charles J. Innes	Republican	Boston	Chairman, Insurance
	Fourth	John E. Powers	Democratic	Boston
	Fifth	Chester A. Dolan Jr.	Democratic	Boston	Minority Floor Leader
	Sixth	Charles I. Taylor	Democratic	Boston
	Seventh	Joseph L. Murphy	Democratic	Boston
Worcester	First	William D. Fleming	Democratic	Worcester
	Second	Harry P. McAllister	Republican	Worcester	Chairman, Banks and Banking
	Third	George W. Stanton	Democratic	Fitchburg
	Fourth	Joseph S. Virostek	Republican	Douglas	Chairman, Towns; Chairman, Transportation
Worcester and Hampden		Edward W. Staves	Republican	Southbridge	Chairman, Highways and Motor Vehicles

Employees

• Irving N. Hayden, Clerk of the Senate
• Thomas A. Chadwick, Assistant Clerk of the Senate
• William F. Dillon, Clerical Assistant to Clerk of the Senate
• Frederick May Elliot, Chaplain of the Senate
• William F. Furbush, Secretary to the President of the Senate and Clerk of the Senate Committee on Rules
• Fernald Hutchins, Counsel to the Senate
• Thomas R. Bateman, Assistant Counsel to the Senate
• Royal B. Patriquin, Assistant to Counsel of the Senate

Representatives

• Laurence H. Banks [4]
• John F. Collins [5]

See also

• 1948 Massachusetts gubernatorial election
• 80th United States Congress
• List of Massachusetts General Courts

References

1. "Composition of the Massachusetts State Senate", Resources on Massachusetts Political Figures in the State Library, Mass.gov, archived from the original on June 6, 2020
2. "Composition of the State of Massachusetts House of Representatives", Resources on Massachusetts Political Figures in the State Library, Mass.gov, archived from the original on June 6, 2020
3. "Length of Legislative Sessions". Manual for the Use of the General Court. Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 2009. p. 348+.
4. Black Legislators in the Massachusetts General Court: 1867-Present, State Library of Massachusetts, 2010, hdl:2452/48905
5. Pamela W. Schofield (April 14, 2014), "Some Mayors of Boston who had been members of the General Court", State Library of Massachusetts blog

Sources

• Election Statistics: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1946), Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1947, hdl:2452/43438
• Massachusetts Journal of the Senate, 1947
• Public Officers of Massachusetts, 1947–48
• Manual for the Use of the General Court. Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 1947. hdl:2452/40788.

External links

• Massachusetts Acts and Resolves: 1947, hdl:2452/55996
• Massachusetts Acts and Resolves: 1948, hdl:2452/55997