Comstock, William Alfred, 1877-1949

The Republic was an association of Syracuse High School students who agreed to meet regularly to discuss current events under the guidance of William K. Wickes, a teacher at the school.

From the description of Syracuse High School Republic scrapbook, 1892. (New York State Historical Documents). WorldCat record id: 155416535

Alpena, Michigan, businessman, University of Michigan regent and Democratic governor of Michigan, 1933-1934.

From the description of William Alfred Comstock papers, 1899-1949. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34423553

From the description of William Alfred Comstock papers, 1899-1949. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 79843979

William A. Comstock was born in Alpena, Michigan on July 2, 1877. His father and grandfather before him were successful businessmen and Comstock would follow in this tradition. Before election to governor in 1932, Comstock was heavily involved in various businesses and investment ventures. These included the business of electric or interurban railroad construction, banking, Detroit real estate, the sugar beet industry, and oil and gas investment and development. Comstock also had a sense of public service who first sought local political office, bankrolled his political party when they were most in need of support, and offered himself as a Democratic candidate for governor at a time when the state was overwhelmingly Republican.

Comstock entered the political arena in his hometown of Alpena serving as alderman (1912-1913) and mayor (1914-1915). During this same period, Governor Woodbridge Ferris appointed Comstock to serve as regent of the University of Michigan (1913-1914). He was a loyal U-M alumnus but failed of re-election.

During the 1920s, Comstock spent much of his personal fortune trying to rebuild the state Democratic Party. He served as Democratic state chairman from 1920 to 1924 and was a member of the Democratic National Committee from 1924 to 1928. Comstock was also instrumental in the successful campaign of Woodbridge Ferris for the United States Senate. What with the money spent on political activities and economic reverses suffered near the end of the decade, Comstock by the time he came to the governor's chair was financially broke.

After three unsuccessful campaigns in 1926, 1928, and 1930, Comstock was elected governor in 1932, coming in on the Roosevelt landslide. His administration is remembered for an eight-day bank holiday that he declared well in advance of the national holiday. During his administration, the legislature passed and Comstock signed Michigan's first sales tax law - legislation which some believe was responsible for Comstock's failure to be renominated by his party in 1934.

Some of Comstock's other accomplishments while governor were emergency banking legislation to re-establish financial soundness, moratoriums on real estate mortgages and land contracts, payments of delinquent taxes on a deferred basis, and creation of a trust commission to assist in orderly liquidation and refunding of bonds issues.

Politically, Comstock was independent in his political views. Although he had been elected as part of the Roosevelt landslide, he broke ranks with the national Democratic Party and with some of the New Deal legislation. Comstock believed that Roosevelt had abandoned fundamental Democratic principles of state's rights and governmental economy. So strong was his belief that in 1940 Comstock shifted parties and supported Wendell Willkie for president. After his term as governor, Comstock held other positions of public trust. He was a member of the Michigan Civil Service Commission from 1939 to 1940; and in 1942, he was elected to the Detroit City Council where he served until his death on June 16, 1949.

From the guide to the William A. Comstock Papers, 1902-1949, (Bentley Historica Library University of Michigan)