Member Biography

Walter B. McNichols 

Seal
Sessions Office Position District Party
1911-1912       22 Republican
1913-1914       22 Republican

COUNTIES: Lackawanna  


Biography

01/10/1863 - 01/11/1924


Walter B. McNichols (R22) Lackawanna County 1911-1914

Early Life: 

Walter B. McNichols, born January 10, 1863 Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania; son of Thomas and Catherine McNichols; public school education; engaged, family grocery store business; carrier, clerk, United States Postal Service, 1886-1896; married, Mary Kelly, 1890, children, Claire, Eugene, Robert, Walter, Frank; engaged, mercantile business; Pennsylvania National Guard, 1883-1897; Colonel, Lancer Catholic Temperance Regiment, Lackawanna County; elected, president, Retail Merchants Associations of Scranton, 1908-1910; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1911-1914; acting, Commissioner, Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, 1918-1919; governor appointee, Chief Factory Inspector, Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, 1918-1920; died, January 11, 1924 (aged 57 years 1 day) Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania; Interment, Cathedral Cemetery, Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania.

Early Career:

Engaged, family grocery store business; carrier, clerk, United States Postal Service, 1886-1896; engaged, mercantile business; Pennsylvania National Guard, 1883-1897; Colonel, Lancer Catholic Temperance Regiment, Lackawanna County; elected, president, Retail Merchants Associations of Scranton, 1908-1910.

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

Appointed, Governor John K. Tener, Trustee, Fairview Hospital of Criminal Insane, 1911; Trustee, Board of Directors, West Side Hospital; member, Knights of Columbus; a devout communicant of Saint Patrick Church.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 22nd district, 1911-1914; committee assignments, Appropriations, Finance, Judiciary Special, Military Affairs, Municipal Affairs, Public Health and Sanitation and Public Roads and Highways; succeeded, Edward Francis Blewitt, defeated, re-election, William M. Lynch.

Appointed, Governor Martin G. Braumbaugh, Chief Factory Inspector, Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, 1918-1920.

Acting, Commissioner, Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, 1918, removal Lew R. palmer until Clifford B. Connelly named, April 1919.

Cited: 

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

Miller, H.P., (Compiler). Baker, W.H., (Assistant Compiler). (1914). The Pennsylvania Manual, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 1090, 1097-1100, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 1072.

The Tribune (Scranton, Pennsylvania) Saturday January 12, 1924, Page 17

Walter McNichols (1867-1924) - Find a Grave Memorial