Mason Sears

Mason Sears
Member of the Massachusetts Senate from the 2nd Norfolk District
In office
1947–1949
Preceded by James Austin Peckham
Succeeded by Leslie Bradley Cutler
In office
1939–1942
Preceded by District created
Succeeded by James Austin Peckham
Personal details
Born December 29, 1899
Boston, Massachusetts
Died December 13, 1973 (aged 73)
Boston, Massachusetts
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Zilla MacDougall
Alma mater Harvard University
Occupation Salesman
Politician

Philip Mason Sears (born December 29, 1899 — December 13, 1973) was an American politician who served as a member of the Massachusetts General Court and the Chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party.[1]

Early life

Sears was born on December 29, 1899 to Philip Shelton Sears, a sculptor, and Mary Cabot (Higginson) Sears.[1] He attended St. Mark's School and Harvard University.[2] On December 29, 1924 he married Zilla MacDougall, the daughter of Admiral William D. MacDougall.[1][3]

Naval career

Sears served in the United States Navy, where he was an attaché to the United States State Department delegation in Peking, China.[2][3] Here he met Danish ambassador Henrik Kauffmann, who would become his friend and later marry Sears' sister-in-law Charlotte MacDougall.[2] Sears also served in the Navy during World War II.[2]

Political career

Sears was a Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1935 to 1937 and the Massachusetts Senate from 1939 to 1943 and again from 1947 to 1949.[4]

Sears worked on the United States Senate campaigns of Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., a colleague of his in the state legislature and the husband of his second cousin.[5]

Sears was Massachusetts Republican State Chair from 1949 to 1950 and was delegate to 1948 and 1952 Republican National Conventions from Massachusetts.[1]

From 1953 to 1960 he was the United States' Representative to United Nations Trusteeship Council.[1]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Sears, Philip Mason (1899-1973". PoliticalGraveyard.com. Lawrence Kestenbaum. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Sears and MacDougall family papers.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Bo Lidegaard & W. Glyn Jones (2003). Defiant diplomacy: Henrik Kauffmann, Denmark, and the United States in World War II and the Cold War, 1939-1958. P. Lang. ISBN 9780820468198.
  4. 1947–1948 Public Officers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
  5. Miller, William Johnson (1967). Henry Cabot Lodge: A Biography. Heineman.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Lloyd B. Waring
Chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party
1949-1950
Succeeded by
Daniel Tyler, Jr.