Erickson, John Edward, 1863-1946

Biographical Note

Thomas J. Walsh

• 1859, June 12: Born, Two Rivers, Wis.
• 1884: Law degree, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis. Admitted to the bar and commenced law practice, Redfield, S.D.
• 1889: Married Eleanor C. McClements (died 1917)
• 1890: Moved to Helena, Mont., and continued the practice of law
• 1906: Unsuccessful candidate for election to Congress
• 1908: Delegate to Democratic national convention
• 1910: Unsuccessful candidate for election to Congress
• 1912: Delegate to Democratic national convention Elected to United States Senate
• 1916: Delegate to Democratic national convention
• 1918: Reelected to United States Senate
• 1920: Delegate to Democratic national convention
• 1924: Reelected to United States Senate Permanent chairman, Democratic national convention, New York, N.Y.
• 1930: Reelected to United States Senate
• 1932: Chairman, Democratic national convention, Chicago, Ill.
• 1933: Married Mina Perey Chaumont de Truffin
• 1933, Mar. 2: Died on a train near Wilson, N.C., while en route to Washington, D.C., to accept appointment as attorney general by President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt.

John Edward Erickson

• 1863, Mar. 14: Born, Stoughton, Wis.
• 1890: B.A. Washburn College, Topeka, Kans.
• 1891: Studied law and admitted to the bar, Eureka, Kans.
• 1894: Moved to Choteau, Mont., and began law practice
• 1897: Appointed judge of Teton County, Mont.
• 1898: Married Grace Vance
• 1905 - 1916 : Judge, Eleventh Judicial District of Montana
• 1920: Delegate, Democratic national convention, San Francisco, Calif.
• 1925 - 1933 : Governor of Montana
• 1933: Appointed to United States Senate to fill vacancy caused by the death of Thomas James Walsh
• 1934: Unsuccessful candidate for nomination to fill vacancy in United States Senate Resumed practice of law, Helena, Mont.
• 1946, May 25: Died, Helena Mont.

From the guide to the Thomas James Walsh and John Edward Erickson Papers, 1910-1934, (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)

John Edward Erickson was born in Stoughton, Wisconsin, on March 14, 1863, the son of a Norwegian immigrant. A year later his family moved to a Greenwood County, Kansas, homestead. Erickson graduated from Washburn College in Topeka in 1890, and was admitted to the Kansas state bar a year later.

In 1893 Erickson moved to Choteau, Montana, and began his law practice. He served three terms as county attorney, and then was elected judge of the llth Judicial District for three terms, beginning in 1904. Erickson resigned from the bench in 1915 to move his law practice to Kalispell. Three years later he was appointed to fill an associate justice vacancy on the Montana Supreme Court, but refused to accept the position. Always active in politics, Erickson was a delegate to the 1920 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco and chairman of the Democratic State Committee in 1922. Two years later he received his party's nomination for governor. He defeated the incumbent, Joseph M. Dixon, and assumed the office on January 5, 1925. He was re-elected in 1928 and 1932. Erickson resigned the governor's seat on March 13, 1933, to accept an appointment as U.S. Senator, replacing Thomas J. Walsh who died in office. Erickson was defeated by James E. Murray when he ran for the Senate in November 1934.

Erickson returned to Helena to work again as a lawyer and to serve on the Montana Old Age Commission. On June 27, 1898, Erickson married Grace Vance at Salt Lake City. They had three children, Vance (b. 1901), Ellen (b. 1904), and John Cooper (b. 1908). John E. Erickson died in Helena on May 25, 1946, at the age of 83.

From the guide to the John E. Erickson papers., 1883-1958, (Montana Historical Society Research Center)