Walter Folger Brown

Walter Folger Brown
Walter Folger Brown
49th United States Postmaster General
	In office; March 5, 1929 – March 4, 1933
President	Herbert Hoover
Preceded by	Harry Stewart New
Succeeded by	James Farley
United States Assistant Secretary of Commerce
	In office; November 2, 1927 – March 4, 1929
Appointed by	Calvin Coolidge
Preceded by	J. Walter Drake
Succeeded by	Julius Klein
Personal details
Born	May 31, 1869; Massillon, Ohio, U.S.
Died	January 26, 1961 (aged 91); Toledo, Ohio, U.S.
Resting place	Woodlawn Cemetery
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Katharin Hafer (m. 1903; died 1960)
Education	Harvard University (AB)

Walter Folger Brown (May 31, 1869 – January 26, 1961) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the Postmaster General of the United States from March 5, 1929, to March 4, 1933, under Herbert Hoover's administration.

Biography

Early & personal life

Brown was born in Massillon, Ohio, to Lavinia (née Folger) and James Marshal Brown. He was educated in Toledo Public Schools and Western Reserve Academy. He married Katherin Hafer on September 10, 1903. Brown had no children.

Education

He graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1892 and later attended Harvard Law School from 1893 to 1894. While living in Ohio he studied law as an apprentice and eventually earned a law license.^[3]

Legal career

He practiced law with his father in Toledo from 1894 to 1905. From 1905 to 1927 he practiced law with the firm of Brown, Hahn & Sanger.

Political career

From 1911 to 1912 he was a member of the Ohio Constitutional Convention and later chairman of the Congressional Joint Committee on Reorganization of Executive Departments from 1921 to 1924. In 1927, President Calvin Coolidge appointed him to be the United States Assistant Secretary of Commerce.^[4] He held that position until he took the office of Postmaster General on March 5, 1929.^[5]

He served as President Hoover's Postmaster General from 1929 until 1933. He was best known from his involvement in the Air Mail scandal. He was also a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Ohio in 1940 and 1944, and served as the president of the Toledo Humane Society from 1911 until 1961.

Brown died at age 91 in Toledo on January 26, 1961. He was buried next to his wife Katherin Hafer in Woodlawn Cemetery.

References

^ Official congressional directory - 69th Congress; 1st session; 2nd ed. (January 1926)
^ Official congressional directory - 71st congress 2nd session (1930)
^ "Walter F. Brown (1929–1933)". Miller Center. Miller Center of Public Affairs. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
^ Journal of the executive proceedings of the Senate ... v.66 pt.1 1927/1928 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ Railway Age - Volume 94 (1933)

Elmer C. Hess (1930). Official Congressional Directory: 71st Congress, 2d Session (2nd ed.). Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.