William Francis Murray

{{Infobox officeholder |name= William Francis Murray |image= William Francis Murray U.S. Representative from Massachusetts and the Postmaster of Boston.png | image_size = | caption =William Francis Murray circa 1912<ref>{{Citation|title=Who's who in State Politics, 1912 |page = 24 |publisher=Practical Politics |location=Boston, MA |year=1912}}</ref>

| office1 = Member of the<br>[[U.S. House of Representatives]]<br> from [[Massachusetts]] | term_start1 = March 4, 1911 | term_end1 = September 28, 1914 | predecessor1 = [[John A. Keliher]] | successor1 = [[Peter Francis Tague]] | constituency1 = [[Massachusetts's 9th congressional district|9th district]] (1911–13)<br>[[Massachusetts's 10th congressional district|10th district]] (1913–14)

|birth_date= {{birth date|1881|9|7}} |birth_place= [[Boston, Massachusetts]], U.S. |death_date= {{death date and age|1918|9|21|1881|9|7}} |death_place=Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |party= [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] |profession=Attorney | alma_mater = [[Harvard College]]<br>[[Harvard Law School]] |spouse= |footnotes= |branch= |service_years=1898 |rank=Corporal |unit=United States Volunteer Signal Corps |battles = [[Spanish–American War]] |awards= }} '''William Francis Murray''' (September 7, 1881 – September 21, 1918) was a [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. representative]] from [[Massachusetts]] and the Postmaster of Boston.

Born in [[Boston, Massachusetts]], Murray attended the public schools and the Boston Latin School. He graduated from [[Harvard University]] in 1904 and Harvard Law School in 1906. He practiced law in Boston. He served as a United States Volunteer Signal Corps corporal during the Spanish-American War. He served as a member of the [[Boston Common Council]] in 1904 and 1905. He served as a member of the State House of Representatives in 1907 and 1908. He served as a member of the Governor's council in 1910

==Election to Congress== Murray challenged incumbent and fellow Democrat [[John A. Keliher]] in 1910. He defeated Keliher in both the primary and general. At age 29, Murray was the youngest member of the [[62nd United States Congress|Sixty-second]] Congress. He was reelected to the [[63rd United States Congress|Sixty-third]] Congress where he was a strong backer of [[Woodrow Wilson]]. He served as a member of Congress from March 4, 1911, until September 28, 1914, when he resigned, having been appointed postmaster of Boston <ref>{{cite web |title=Baby-faced Representative William F. Murray of Massachusetts |url=https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1901-1950/Baby-faced-Representative-William-F--Murray-of-Massachusetts/ |publisher=Office of the Historian, House of Representatives |access-date=1 April 2026}}</ref>.

==Postmaster of Boston== On June 19, 1914, President Wilson nominated Murray for the position of Postmaster of Boston.<ref>{{Citation |title =WM. F. Murray To Be Named For Postoffice Here: Charlestown Congressman's Name to Be Sent to Senate at Once by President Wilson, It Is Said |page=1 |work=The Christian Science Monitor |location=Boston, MA |date=June 19, 1914}}</ref> The Senate Confirmed the nomination on July 16, 1914.<ref>{{Citation |title =WM. F. Murray Is Confirmed |page=1 |work=The Christian Science Monitor |location=Boston, MA |date=July 22, 1914}}</ref> Murray served as postmaster from October 1, 1914, until his death on September 21, 1918.

==Death== In the Autumn of 1918, Murray contracted the [[Spanish flu]]<ref>{{Citation |title =Harvard Alumni Bulletin Vol XXL, Number 3. |page=70 |publisher=The Harvard Bulletin, Inc. |location=Boston, MA |date=October 10, 1918}}</ref> and died from pneumonia at Boston City Hospital at 11:40 on the night of September 21, 1918.<ref>{{Citation |title =Postmaster Murray Dies of Pneumonia: Boston Loses Beloved Citizen and Nation a Faithful Official |page=1 |work=The Boston Daily Globe |location=Boston, MA |date=September 22, 1918}}</ref>

==Burial== Murray was interred in Holyhood Cemetery, the [[Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts|Chestnut Hill]] section of Brookline, Massachusetts.<ref>{{Citation |title =Final Tribute To Postmaster Murray |page=12 |work=The Boston Daily Globe |location=Boston, MA |date=September 25, 1918}}</ref>

==References== <references />

==Bibliography== * ''Who's who in State Politics, 1912'' Practical Politics (1912) p. 24. {{CongBio|M001117}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Massachusetts | district=10 | district_ord=10th | before=[[James Michael Curley|James M. Curley]] | after=[[Peter Tague]] | years= March 4, 1913 – September 28, 1914}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, William Francis}} [[Category:1881 births]] [[Category:1918 deaths]] [[Category:Harvard College alumni]] [[Category:Harvard Law School alumni]] [[Category:Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives]] [[Category:United States Army non-commissioned officers]] [[Category:Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in Massachusetts]] [[Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Massachusetts]] [[Category:Boston Latin School alumni]] [[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Massachusetts]] [[Category:Burials at Holyhood Cemetery (Brookline)]] [[Category:Politicians from Boston]] [[Category:American military personnel of the Spanish–American War]] [[Category:20th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court]] [[Category:20th-century United States representatives]]