Walter E. Welford was born May 21, 1868, in Bellery, Yorkshire, England, to Thomas and Jane (Murry) Welford. Walter immigrated with his parents to Emerson, Manitoba in November 1879, and settled in Dakota Territory in early 1880. He lived in the Pembina-Neche area until his death, and operated a 1,500 acre farm. On June 26, 1901, he married Edith Bachman in Genoa, OH. His first political office was clerk of Home Township in Pembina County, a position he held for 20 years. Welford served in the N.D. House of Representatives for the 1st District in 1906 and in 1908. He was elected state Senator from the 1st District in 1916 and 1918. In 1919, he was named chairman of the senate committee on insurance, the committee that developed the workmen's compensation law, hail insurance law and state bonding and fire insurance laws. He was elected a member of the Republican state executive committee in 1920. Welford was involved in Nonpartisan League (NPL) activities during the 1920s-1930s. In 1924 he entered the national political field, running for Congress on the Democratic ticket. In 1934 he was Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota. After Thomas H. Moodie was removed from office for lack of residence qualifications, Welford became the Twentieth Governor of the state of N.D. He won renomination in the Republican primary but was defeated by ex-Governor William Langer who ran as an independent. He was inaugurated February 2, 1935, and served until 1937. In 1937, Mrs. Welford died; the couple had one daughter, Florence Margaret, who died in infancy. Walter Welford was a member of the Ancient, Free, and Accepted Masons, and the Woodmen. He died on the way from his farm home to the hospital in Altona, Manitoba, Canada, June 28, 1952. He was survived by two brothers, Arthur and Fred Welford, who continued to operate the Welford Brothers farm, and three sisters, Miss Ethel Welford, Mrs. Lillian Corbett, and Mrs. M. H. Weeks.
From the description of Walter Welford papers, 1901-1939. (State Historical Society of North Dakota State Archives). WorldCat record id: 658227500
