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RESUMEN

Winthrop Murray Crane (April 23, 1853 – Oct. 2, 1920), political figure and businessman, was born in Dalton, Massachusetts to Zenas Marshall Crane, owner of the Crane Paper Company, and his wife, Louise Fanny Laflin. Crane studied at the Wilbraham Academy in Massachusetts followed by the Williston Seminary. At the age of 17, Winthrop joined the family business and, along with his brother Zenas, Jr., he presided over a significant period of growth for the company, the dominant economic force in the Dalton community and a major producer of paper products.

Among other victories in business, Winthrop secured a major contract supplying wrapping paper to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company and signed an exclusive contract to provide paper for the Federal Reserve Notes ─the currency of the United States. To this day, his family business, the Crane Paper Company, is the sole supplier of currency paper to the federal government. Crane also grew his wealth and influence through investments in the Otis Elevator Company and the American Telephone and Telegraph Company.

In 1892, Winthrop entered the political sphere serving as a member of the Republican National Committee ─a position he held again in 1896, 1904, and 1908.

From 1897 to 1900 Crane served as the Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. In this period, he secured the Republican gubernatorial nomination and was elected governor of Massachusetts in 1899. He was reelected to a second term in 1900, and to a third term in 1901. During his time as governor, Winthrop authorized a mental institution in the state, handled a strike, and approved several railroad leases. His leadership was characterized as nonpartisan, and he was known for his fiscal conservatism and business-like management.

In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Crane Secretary of the Treasury but he declined. Crane left office at the end of his third term on January 8, 1903 but remained politically active and served as a member of the U.S. Senate from 1904 to 1913. As a senator, Crane served as Chairman of the Committee on Canadian Relations and served on the Committee on Rules.

Winthrop Murray Crane died on October 2, 1920 in his hometown of Dalton, Massachusetts. He was 67 years old.