William Sproul | |
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Chair of the National Governors Association | |
In office August 21, 1919 – December 16, 1922 |
|
Preceded by | Henry Justin Allen |
Succeeded by | Channing H. Cox |
27th Governor of Pennsylvania | |
In office January 21, 1919 – January 16, 1923 |
|
Lieutenant | Edward Beidleman |
Preceded by | Martin Brumbaugh |
Succeeded by | Gifford Pinchot |
Personal details | |
Born |
Emerson Columbus Harrington September 16, 1870 Colerain Township, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Died | March 21, 1928 Wallingford, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
(aged 57)
Political party | Republican |
Education | Swarthmore College (BA) |
William Cameron Sproul (September 16, 1870 – March 21, 1928) was the 27th Governor of Pennsylvania from 1919 to 1923.
Sproul was born at John Douglass House in Colerain Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on September 16, 1870. The Sproul family relocated to Delaware County in 1883, where Sproul graduated from Chester High School in 1887. He received a postsecondary education at Swarthmore College, from which he graduated with honors in 1891. In college, he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity.
Sproul was employed in the field of newspaper publishing, and he arose to the rank of president of the Chester Daily Times. He additionally made a substantial sum through investments in railroads and manufacturing interests.
A prominent Republican, Sproul served in the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1897 to 1919. In 1911, he drafted the landmark Sproul Highway Act, which created the state highway system.
In 1918, Sproul was elected as the 27th Governor of Pennsylvania, serving in this capacity until 1923. As governor, he focused extensively on expanding funding for education, roadway construction, and veterans' services. He also spurred an effort to expand state forest land so as to replenish the state's woodlands after years of degradation by lumber companies.
Sproul was a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 1920. He was later offered the nomination for vice president on a ticket with Warren Harding, but he declined the opportunity. In 1926, Spoul chaired the bi-state committee that organized the construction of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge between Philadelphia and Camden.
He died on March 21, 1928. He was buried at the Chester Rural Cemetery.