Name John Fine Preceded by James Duff | Succeeded by George M. Leader Children Two sons Resigned January 18, 1955 | |
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Full Name John Sydney Fine Spouse(s) Helene Pennebecker Morgan (December 5, 1939–April 23, 1951; her death) Alma mater Dickinson School of Law Role Former Governor of Pennsylvania Died May 21, 1978, Loyalville, Pennsylvania, United States Education Pennsylvania State University - Dickinson Law Previous office Governor of Pennsylvania (1951–1955) | ||
John Sydney Fine (April 10, 1893 – May 21, 1978) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. A Republican, he served as the 35th Governor of Pennsylvania from 1951 to 1955.
Contents
- Longines chronoscope with john s fine
- Early life and education
- Military and political career
- References
Longines chronoscope with john s fine
Early life and education
Fine was born in Newport Township, Pennsylvania, one of nine children of Jacob W. and Margaret (née Croop) Fine. In 1895, the family moved to nearby Nanticoke, where Fine received his early education at local public schools. He milked cows and plowed fields on a coal company farm as a young boy, and later reported on local community news for the Wilkes-Barre Record as a teenager.
After graduating from Nanticoke High School as valedictorian in 1911, Fine studied at the Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle, earning his law degree in 1914. He was admitted to practice law in Luzerne County (1914) and before the Superior Court of Pennsylvania (1915), opening his own practice in Wilkes-Barre. From 1916 to 1920, he served as Republican chairman of the Fourth Legislative District of Luzerne County.
Military and political career
During World War I, Fine served with the 23rd U.S. Army Engineers, reaching the rank of sergeant. In 1919, while stationed in Ireland, he took postgraduate studies at Trinity College of the University of Dublin. Following his military service, he resumed his law practice and became a partner in the firm Coughlin and Fine. He served as secretary of the Republican County Committee from 1920 to 1922, and as chairman of the Luzerne County Republican Committee from 1922 to 1923. On January 3, 1927, Governor Gifford Pinchot appointed Fine to fill a vacancy in the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne County. He was elected to a regular ten-year term in November of that year, being re-elected to another term in 1939. He served as a delegate to the 1936 Republican National Convention. In 1939, he married Helene Pennebecker Morgan, to whom he remained married until her death in 1950; the couple had two sons.
In 1942, Fine was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Governor James H. Duff appointed him to fill a vacancy on the Pennsylvania Superior Court on July 15, 1947. He was elected to a permanent term in November 1947, serving in that position until he resigned in 1950 to campaign for governor.
In 1950, after Governor Duff decided to run for the United States Senate, Fine was elected the 35th Governor of Pennsylvania. In the Republican primary, Fine (the favored candidate of Governor Duff) defeated Philadelphia millionaire Jay Cooke (the favored candidate of the conservative Grundy machine). In the general election, he narrowly defeated Democrat Richardson Dilworth, who later became the mayor of Philadelphia, by a margin of 86,000 votes.
Fine was the first Pennsylvania governor to have his inauguration televised.