Member Biography

William Clayton Hackett 

Member

Photograph from Men of Easton and Phillipsburg, George L. Seibel, 1920 Easton Pa., Vol 3; Courtesy Northampton Co. Historical Soc. 

 
 

Sessions Office Position District Party
1915-1916       18 Republican
1917-1918       18 Republican
1919-1920       18 Republican
1921-1922       18 Republican

COUNTIES: Northampton  


Biography

05/25/1874 - 12/10/1930


William Clayton Hackett (D18) Northampton County, 1915-1922

Early Life: 

William Clayton Hackett, Born, April 25, 1874, Easton, Northampton County Pennsylvania, son of Joseph Marion and Mary Barnett Hackett; public and private schools education; Lafayette College,1895; New York University; engaged, iron and steel wire manufacturing business, Stewart Wire Company, ten years; moved, New Mexico for one year; returned as owner of the Hackett Clothing Company; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1915-1922; delegate, Democratic National Convention, 1924; unsuccessful bid, Lieutenant Governor, 1926; married, Bessie Marlin Cooley, 1907, daughter, Ann Hackett Gerhardt; died, December 10, 1930 (aged 56), home, Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, interment, Easton Cemetery, Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. 

Early Career:

Engaged, iron and steel wire manufacturing business with the Stewart Wire Company, ten years; moved, New Mexico for one year; returned as owner of the Hackett Clothing Company

Professional titles; business ownership; board memberships; local government; club memberships:

Director, President, Easton National Bank; member, Board of Prison Inspectors, Northampton County; trustee, State Hospital for the Insane, five years, Southeastern District of Pennsylvania; appointed, member, Washington Crossing Park Commission by Governor William Cameron Sproul.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 18th district, Northampton County, 1915-1922; committee assignments, Appropriations, Finance, Game and Fisheries, Law and Order, Legislative Apportionment, Military Affairs, Mines and Mining, Public Printing and Railroads. 

Delegate, Democratic National Convention, 1924.

Unsuccessful bid, Lieutenant Governor, 1926.

Legacy: 

Father, Joseph Marion Hackett served, Democrat, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1879-1882; not a candidate for reelection to the House (1882); unsuccessful campaigns, Pennsylvania State Treasurer, 1881, 1883.  

Donated 90 acres of private land, City of Easton, named Hackett Park. Now a Disc Golf Course.

Cited: 

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members H"Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Miller, H.P., (Compiler). Baker, W.H., (Assistant Compiler). (1920). The Pennsylvania Manual, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 1097, pages 1119, 1126-1129.

William Clayton Hackett (1874-1930) - Find a Grave Memorial