Governor John D. Long Letters

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John Davis Long (1838-1915) was an American lawyer and politician. Originally from Maine, he eventually settled in Hingham, Massachusetts. Long received a law degree from Harvard University in 1857 and began his political life at the local level in Hingham with a focus on temperance and Republican reform. He later served as the 32nd Governor of Massachusetts from 1880 to 1883. Towards the end of his career, he accepted a position as Secretary of the Navy under President William McKinley. He held that position from 1897 to 1902 and, during that time, oversaw operations during the Spanish-American War.