William J. Granfield

Who was William J. Granfield?

William Joseph Granfield was a United States Representative from Massachusetts. He was born in Springfield on December 18, 1889. He attended the grammar and high schools, and graduated from Williston Academy, and from the Notre Dame Law School. He was a member of the common council. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Springfield. He served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, was a delegate to the State constitutional convention of 1918 and 1919, and was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1924-1940.

He was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-first Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William K. Kaynor. He was reelected to the Seventy-second, Seventy-third, and Seventy-fourth Congresses and served from February 11, 1930, to January 3, 1937. Granfield was not a candidate for renomination in 1936. He was appointed for life as presiding justice of the district court of Springfield in 1936, and served until his retirement July 27, 1949 due to illness. He died in that city on May 28, 1959. Interment was in St. Michael’s Cemetery.